Staying offnet is one of the easiest ways to stay secure and safe. Today, our digital lifestyle doesn’t allow us to go offline even if we desire so. There is a great social, economic and emotional value in remaining connected. But it also comes at a cost. The cost of losing data, information, privacy and now even money.
Since the inception of digital payment modes, smartphones are being used to make and receive payments. Our bank accounts, credit and debit cards are all connected to our smartphones. While we remain connected with the world, the world also remains connected to us including the rogue elements of the digital world. They are always on a hunt to find their next prey. The scammers have developed multiple baits to trick almost everyone including people who are well informed of such challenges in the digital landscape.
Every day we come across media reports citing examples of online fraud where ordinary people are scammed of money by making them click on spoofed links and other means. Scammers, in disguise of a genuine person or brand send out messages using SMS, OTT communication apps like WhatsApp, Social Messaging apps and the age-old emails. Nowadays we have also seen calls being made out to fraud people.
All this is happening because the smartphone is connected to Internet. So, either a user can be hacked or tricked to get hacked by clicking links or any other CTA (call-to-action) as may be the design flow of the digital fraud. This has been one of the major drawbacks of smartphones that their connectivity has allowed scammers to exploit it for their unearned and illegitimate financial gains.
With Nokia 105, which has been primarily designed for 2G mobile users, sometimes also known as a dumb phone, feature phone, basic phone, qwerty phone, etc., HMD Global has in fact designed a great alternative for people who want a secure way to make payments. For just ₹1,299, which is the current selling price of the phone, users can buy this phone and make it their ‘payments phone’ that will let them make and receive payments through UPI with a simplified integration done by Gupshup via SMS channel.
The users can continue to use their smartphone for everything else including messaging, video calls, browsing, social media, emails, etc., while keeping Nokia 105 exclusively for financial transactions through UPI. Nokia 105 uses UPI’s 123PAY functionality which has been made user friendly by Gupshup through their interface layer. Nokia 105 ‘payments phone’ may not be a holistic solution that will work in all scenarios. Users will have to use smartphone for instance for mobile banking. But it will definitely offer a safe and secure environment for users to make hassle-free financial transactions using UPI.
UPI has become one of the most convenient payment modes with average 8 billion transactions taking place every month since Jan 2023. Nokia 105 adds a great convenience factor to the entire experience of making payments which will also be appreciated by the smartphone users who are currently transacting using UPI through various apps.
Carrying Nokia 105 as an additional phone will not be much of a hassle for users. When users will do a pros and cons analysis of this option, I am sure pros will outnumber the cons making Nokia 105 an ideal candidate for ‘payments phone’ for millions of users who are appreciating digital payments, but the scam and fraud woes keep them worried.
