This story was first published on the Benzinga India portal.

Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) GooglePay, AmazonPay (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Walmart-backed (NYSE:WMT) PhonePe, along with Indian fintech firms Cred and Mobikwik, have expressed interest in joining the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) digital currency pilot project.

What Happened: The five payment firms are planning to offer transactions via the e-rupee, the digital alternative to physical currency launched by the RBI in December 2022, Reuters reported. Initially, only banks were permitted to offer e-rupee transactions, but the central bank expanded this to include payment firms in April.

The firms are reportedly collaborating with the RBI and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and are expected to roll out e-rupee access within the next three to four months. These five firms account for over 85% of digital payments via the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which records about 13 billion transactions monthly.

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Despite an initial surge, e-rupee transactions have declined, reflecting the global struggle of central banks to popularise digital currencies. However, the inclusion of these popular payment firms is expected to boost transaction volumes by expanding the user base.

The e-rupee aims to reduce the country's dependency on cash transactions and promote digital payments. The participation of these major payment firms, which already have a substantial user base, could help in popularising the e-rupee and increase its transaction volumes. This could also pave the way for other fintech firms to join the project, further boosting the digital payment ecosystem in India.

The RBI, however, has no immediate plans for a full-scale launch of the digital currency, keeping it in the pilot stage for the next few years, the report added.

Image: Shutterstock/ PradeepGaurs