Fintech unicorn slice is reportedly gearing up to enter the crowded Unified Payments Interface (UPI) market dominated by PhonePe and Google Pay.With over 8 million registered users, slice is India's best credit card challenger to pay bills, manage expenses, and unlock rewards.According to a TechCrunch report, citing sources, slice plans to introduce "UPI payments for its users within weeks".The platform is currently "testing the new payments method within the firm", the report said on Wednesday.Responding to an IANS query, the company said it is unable to divulge any further details at the moment.slice is backed by leading investors such as Tiger Global, Insight Partners, Advent International, Blume Ventures, and Gunosy Capital, has cumulatively raised $240 million and is currently valued at over $1 billion.
The current UPI market is led by Walmart-backed PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm.In the month of February, India's cashless retail transactions on UPI platform were worth Rs 8.27 lakh crore, slightly lower than the previous month, according to latest data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).There were a total of 452 crore (4.52 billion) transactions in February.In January, the value of cashless retail transactions on the BHIM UPI platform were Rs 8.32 lakh crore while the total number of transactions was at 461 crore, the NPCI data showed.The Indian UPI market may soon see another new competitor in the Tatas, which is reportedly seeking clearance from the NPCI to start UPI operations as a third-party payments service provider.