How Paytm Uses Biometric Authentication to Make Everyday Payments More Secure

Mobile payments have become part of everyday life in India, and as more financial activity moves to the smartphone, speed alone is no longer enough. Indians increasingly expect stronger control over how their payments are authenticated and how their information stays protected.

Paytm has continued to build its payments experience around this balance of simplicity, security and control. Our latest step is Biometric Authentication, which allows eligible payments and balance checks on the Paytm app to be verified using the fingerprint sensor on Android smartphones or Face ID on iOS, instead of manually entering the UPI PIN.

Verification takes place directly on the smartphone, and no biometric data is stored or accessed by Paytm or the bank. The UPI PIN also continues to remain available, offering the flexibility to choose how each payment is authenticated.

Biometric Authentication for Everyday Payments

Biometric authentication brings a security mechanism already familiar to smartphone owners directly into the payment experience.

Once enabled, eligible payments can be authenticated through Face ID or fingerprint verification. The same verification can also be used while checking the balance of a linked bank account. In line with NPCI guidelines, biometric UPI payments begin with a ₹5,000 per-transaction limit.

This removes the need to manually enter a UPI PIN for every eligible transaction, while keeping authentication securely on the device.

The underlying principle is simple: the biometric information used for verification stays within the smartphone’s built-in security system. Paytm and the bank do not store or access that biometric data.

Face ID and Fingerprint Without Replacing the UPI PIN

Adding biometric authentication does not remove the existing UPI PIN option.

We have designed the experience to provide users with greater choice. Anyone who prefers Face ID or fingerprint verification can enable it for supported transactions, while the UPI PIN remains available as an authentication method for those who want it. This brings another familiar smartphone behaviour into everyday payments without taking away an existing method people already understand.

For us, stronger payment security is also about making secure behaviour intuitive. Authentication should work naturally within the way people already use their phones, rather than adding unnecessary steps to a routine transaction.

How to Enable Face ID or Fingerprint on Paytm

Biometric payments can be enabled directly from the Paytm app in a few steps:

1. Open the Paytm app.
2. Tap the Profile icon on the left.
3. In Settings, select “Pay with Fingerprint” or “Pay with Face ID.”
4. Select the bank account for which you want to enable biometric payments.
5. Follow the on-screen prompt to authenticate using your fingerprint or Face ID.
6. Once enabled, you can securely check your balance or make eligible payments of up to ₹5,000 using biometric verification.

The experience uses the biometric capability already available on a compatible smartphone, including fingerprint sensors on Android and Face ID on iOS.

Security Built into the Payment Journey

Biometric authentication is part of a broader focus on privacy and security across the Paytm app.

The all-new app includes safeguards designed around the risks that can arise during everyday payments. It prevents screen recording during UPI payments, adding a layer of protection against potential fraud. It also raises an alert when a payment is being made during a phone call, helping draw attention to the risk of phone-based scams and impersonation fraud.

These safeguards work at different points in the payment journey. Biometric authentication strengthens how an eligible payment is verified. Screen-recording protection helps limit exposure of sensitive payment activity. Call alerts are designed to warn against a situation commonly associated with social-engineering scams. Together, they reflect an approach of making security part of the payment experience itself, rather than a separate layer to be managed on the side.

Greater Privacy Across Payment History

Security is closely linked with control over personal financial information, and several Paytm capabilities are built around exactly that.

We introduced Hide Payments to move selected transactions out of the main payment history while keeping them securely accessible whenever required. It was developed in response to customer feedback and allows payments to be hidden and unhidden as needed. Accessing hidden payments requires the handset’s access PIN or biometric verification through fingerprint or face authentication, tying this privacy control back to the same on-device security.

We have also introduced Personalized UPI IDs, which allow easier-to-remember payment handles to be created without revealing a mobile number through the UPI ID.

The objective across these capabilities is consistent: greater control over how payments are authenticated, what appears in payment history, and what personal information is visible during everyday payment activity.

A Payment Experience Built Around Trust and Control

India’s mobile payments ecosystem continues to evolve, and security needs to evolve with it.

Paytm’s focus is on building security into everyday actions rather than treating it as something to be managed separately. Face ID and fingerprint authentication bring smartphone-native verification into payments. Screen-recording protection and call alerts address risks around payment activity. Hide Payments and Personalized UPI IDs add further control over privacy.

The all-new Paytm app continues this approach, combining enhanced privacy and security with a simpler payment experience designed around how India transacts every day. As mobile payments become even more deeply integrated into everyday life, Paytm will continue to build products that make them simpler, more intuitive and more secure for people across India.