Here’s why Uber's partnership with Axis and HDFC banks to facilitate UPI integration is a strategic move

Forging an alliance that could bring millions of riders and driver partners into the digital payments revolution, Uber India announced a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) integration in partnership with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and banking partners Axis Bank and HDFC Bank.
According to Uber, nearly 60 per cent of app based taxi drivers in India continue to make cash transactions.
Why it makes sense

This move could help in the mass adoption of governement-led fintech innovations such as BHIM/UPI for millions of riders and drivers using the platform.

With over 9.4 million Uber trips a week in India this July, the potential for encouraging adoption of UPI across riders is immense.

Equally significant will be the impact on the driver side. Through the steadfast adoption of BHIM over the next few weeks among its 285,000+ weekly active drivers, the move will additionally enable over 450,000 registered drivers on the Uber platform to experience the power of UPI.
Inclusion of decision-makers

After demonetisation, businesses in India have witnessed a significant uptick in adoption of digital payment methods over cash transactions. By being a partner in the government's mission to create a digital payments led society, the company is also trying to be more inclusive with decision-makers such as the government and formal banking institutions in a country that still doesn’t have laws for the fast-pace innovation that tech companies like Uber bring, constantly.
The company depends on consumers being able to frequently make low value payments with minimal friction and UPI integration will bring millions of riders and driver partners into the digital payments ecosystem, offering them another secure and seamless payment interface and has offered its riders the option to use their existing UPI IDs to pay for their rides in July 2017.

This integration now allows riders to even create UPI IDs using the Uber app directly.

By being more accessible in terms of payments, this move bolsters UberSHAAN - an effort to generate 1 million livelihood opportunities on the Uber platform by 2018.