The Payments Council of India (PCI), the head of payments and settlement body in the country, has introduced ‘Project Pratima’ to equalize payment icons across apps and platforms for easy identification of digital payments.
‘Pratima’ is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘icons’. Project Pratima owns a website that aims to improve the trust, security, and popularity of digital payment icons in a bid to avoid fraud or mistakes while initiating payment transactions.
As per reports, the initiative has been taken up to safeguard people against fraud and promote digital payments in the country.
Companies like FamPay, Setu, Jupiter, Amazon Pay, Safexpay, and Paytm are part of the core group implementing Project Pratima.
The website consists of an icon library with the option to download the equalized icons created by a core group of designers from across companies. While payment platforms can customise the colours and background shapes of icons, PCI has laid down some dos and don’ts for its members.
The working group for Project Pratima includes members from HDFC Bank, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), State Bank of India (SBI), Visa, Whatsapp Pay, PayU, Eko, Mobikwik, and Paytm, covering sections across banks and payments companies.
Reports suggest that standardizing icons is only the first phase of the initiative. For the second phase, PCI plans to build an easier framework of payments for visually impaired users.