HDFC Bank To Stop SMS Alerts For UPI Transactions Less Than ₹100

Update your primary email address with HDFC Bank to ensure you receive all transaction notifications

HDFC has announced that the bank will discontinue SMS alerts for UPI transactions below ₹100 starting from June 25. Customers will only get text notifications on transactions above this amount or cash receipts above ₹500 through UPI. However, email alerts will continue for all businesses.

The bank has comes to this decision after a response from customer feedback, which indicated that alerts for low-value transactions were unnecessary due to the notifications already provided by UPI payment apps. At the same time, the cost of sending bulk SMS messages is high, with banks spending several crores of rupees daily to manage the high volume of UPI transactions, which average around ₹40 crore per day.

HDFC Bank has asked its customers to update the primary email address so that they can receive all transaction notifications. This changes corresponds with the pattern of UPI transaction average values declining as smaller, more frequent payments become more prevalent.

National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI) reports that UPI transactions in India exceeded 100 billion by 2023 and is expected to reach 118 billion by the end of this year. This expansion is due to the increasing use of UPI for various payment needs including small businesses. Over the time, the average ticket size for UPI transactions has also shrunk; it fell by 8%, from ₹1,648 in the second half of 2022 to ₹1,515 in the same period in 2023.

On the other hand, banks are also promoting UPI Lite for transactions up to ₹500. This feature allows users to set aside a small amount of money within the app for quick payments without the need for second-factor authentication. This initiative is designed to facilitate faster and more efficient transactions, further enhancing the user experience for low-value payments.