UPay | Devpost

Inspiration

Many times, I find myself at Walmart, ready to check out, only to realize I’ve forgotten my card. Unlike other retailers, Walmart has yet to fully embrace digital payment methods like Apple Pay or Google Pay, leaving me with no option but to load funds into the Walmart wallet—a process that, ironically, still requires my card. This inconvenience highlights a significant gap in the U.S. payment ecosystem.

While emerging economies have rapidly adopted real-time digital payments, making transactions seamless and cashless, major U.S. retailers remain resistant to these advancements. The lack of universal digital payment solutions not only limits consumer convenience but also slows down the adoption of modern financial technology. This contrast led me to explore the underlying infrastructure of digital banking in the U.S. and find a solution that enables widespread, real-time digital payments—even at retailers like Walmart.

What it does

UPay is a universal digital payments app that integrates a range of financial services. It's essentially a one-stop solution for all digital transactions, built on a Universal Payments Network infrastructure , similar to ACH but without intermediaries. UPay allows for peer-to-peer (P2P) and business-to-business (B2B) money transfers that settle in real-time from one bank to another, without intermediaries like Visa and Mastercard. Unlike existing apps like Venmo and PayPal, which hold funds temporarily in a wallet before they are transferred, UPay transactions happen directly and instantly between bank accounts, saving 2-3% depending on the kind of transaction(credit/debit card).

In addition to seamless real-time transactions, UPay also offers credit-based lending for merchants, using their transaction history instead of traditional credit scores. The app also integrates services like insurance and bill payments. UPay is an all-in-one financial solution that facilitates real-time, low cost, secure transactions without relying on third-party networks.

How we built it

The app’s frontend was designed with simplicity and user-friendliness in mind, ensuring customers could easily transfer funds, manage their accounts, and explore financial services.

Our backend development focused on ensuring compliance with banking regulations while building secure APIs for real-time bank-to-bank transfers. We also integrated transaction-based lending systems to provide alternative credit scoring and seamless loan disbursements.

Challenges we ran into

While building UPay, we faced challenges with backend integrations, particularly ensuring secure and reliable connections with real-time payment systems . Integrating transaction-based lending also posed some challenges as we had to create algorithms that could assess creditworthiness based on digital transaction histories. However, the frontend design and user experience development were relatively smooth and easy to implement

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We successfully designed and developed a real-time payments, merchant integrations, and transaction-based lending app. Additionally, we were able to implement a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for customers to send money instantly and manage their financial needs all in one place. We’re proud of creating an app that offers a real alternative to current payment methods in the U.S, QUITE LITERALLY REIMAGINED BANKING.

What's next for UPay

We intend to work closely with regulators to ensure that UPay remains compliant with financial regulations while pushing for changes in the U.S. payment system that allow for ALMOST zero merchant discount rates (MDR). Ultimately, UPay will drive adoption by offering both consumers and businesses a real-time, cost-effective alternative to the existing payment solutions.