Key Privacy Updates
- Masking Identity: Major apps like Google Pay and PhonePe now support “UPI Numbers” and custom IDs that don’t reveal the user’s phone number to recipients.
- Security Benefits: Hiding your mobile number significantly reduces the risk of targeted cyber fraud, marketing harassment, and unsolicited spam calls.
- Global Leader: UPI, managed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), remains the world’s largest real-time payment system, processing billions of transactions monthly.
- Ease of Use: Setting up a “Random ID” (e.g., secure.payment@okaxis) takes less than two minutes within app settings.
- Safety Protocols: Experts emphasize that while ID masking protects privacy, users must still never share their 4- or 6-digit UPI PIN.
As Unified Payments Interface (UPI) becomes the backbone of India’s digital economy, privacy concerns have shifted to the forefront. Traditionally, a user’s mobile number often served as their default UPI ID, meaning every transaction at a local grocery store or online portal inadvertently shared their contact details. To address this, the NPCI and major third-party application providers (TPAPs) have introduced features that allow users to decouple their mobile numbers from their payment identities.
By utilizing a “UPI Number” or a personalized string of characters, users can ensure that the person on the receiving end sees only a unique alias. This transition is a critical step in preventing “data harvesting,” where bad actors collect mobile numbers from transaction histories for malicious purposes.
Step-by-Step Guide to Masking Your Number
For Google Pay (GPay) Users:
- Open the Google Pay app and tap your Profile Picture in the top right.
- Navigate to Bank Account and select your primary linked account.
- Tap on Manage UPI IDs or Manage UPI Numbers.
- Choose to create a new ID that does not include your phone number. You can also “De-link” your phone number from being a searchable payment handle while keeping the bank connection intact.
For PhonePe Users:
- Go to your Profile section by tapping the icon on the top left.
- Select UPI Settings.
- Under your linked bank accounts, you will see various handles (e.g., @ybl, @ibl).
- You can activate or create a new “Custom ID” and set it as your primary handle to ensure your mobile number remains hidden during peer-to-peer transfers.
The Bigger Picture: NPCI and the Future of Payments
The rapid growth of UPI, which now handles nearly 80% of all digital retail payments in India, has necessitated these advanced privacy layers. Security experts suggest that users should avoid using their names or birth years in their custom IDs to maintain maximum anonymity.
Furthermore, as the system expands internationally to countries like the UAE, Singapore, and France, these privacy features are becoming global standards for secure, cross-border digital transactions. While the technology evolves, the fundamental rules of digital hygiene remain: avoid clicking on unverified SMS links, never scan a QR code to receive money, and regularly update your payment app to the latest version for the most recent security patches.
