Xiaomi India has quietly closed its financial services business in India. According to reports, the company has pulled the Mi Pay and Mi Credit apps from its Google Play Store and its App Store in India.
Mi Pay, as per report good By TechCrunch, is no longer listed among the UPI apps recognized by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
The Mi Pay app was launched by Manu Kumar Jain, former head of Xiaomi India, in March 2019 as a means of making digital payments for Xiaomi device owners. The app was based on NPCI’s UPI (United Payments Interface) platform, and offered deep integration with the company’s MIUI skin in the form of SMS, contacts and settings. The NPCI approved app was powered by ICICI Bank and enabled users to make payments through UPI, Debit Card, Credit Card and Internet Banking.
Feather @XiaomiIndia We are very sensitive when it comes to user data security.
all #MiPay Data is stored in highly secure servers in India only.#MiPay approved by @NPCI_BHIM@NPCI_NPCI and the payment service is operated @ICICIBank
RT if you are using #MiPay pic.twitter.com/l9ei8j0bwF
— manu kumar jain (@manukumarjain) March 19, 2019
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Later in the year 2019, Xiaomi India launched Mi Credit app, a digital lending platform that offered credit between Rs 5,000 to Rs 100,000 at low interest rates to eligible users. At that time, Xiaomi had partnered with local startups including Aditya Birla Finance, ZestMoney, CreditVidya, MoneyView and EarlySalary for this. The app scanned through users’ text messages and call logs to view transaction information and other similar details that would determine their creditworthiness and quickly approve the required loan.
Both these apps came pre-installed in Xiaomi’s smartphone. They were also available on Google’s Play Store for Android users to download.
Now, the new report states that both the apps are no longer available in India.
While Xiaomi India is yet to comment on the matter, the development comes at a time when the company is facing intense scrutiny by government agencies in the country. The ED had attached Xiaomi India’s assets worth $676 million earlier this year. Later, the Karnataka High Court refused to lift the freeze. Xiaomi India officials have denied any wrongdoing on their part.
Post Xiaomi quietly shuts down its financial services business in India: Report first appeared on BGR India.
