Reserve Bank of India (RBI) along with NPCI international payments ltd (NIPL) will work to roll out UPI in 20 countries by FY29. RBI’s annual report said opportunities to increase the global impact of UPI and RuPay will be explored.
“In light of the goals for Viksit Bharat 2047, the Reserve Bank, along with NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL) will work to bring UPI to 20 countries with launch dates in 2024-25 and completion in 2028-29,” the report said.
The RBI report further added “Fast Payment System (FPS) cooperation with a group of countries like the European Union and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) as well as multilateral linkages will be explored.”
The RBI’s Payments Vision 2025 document highlighted expanding the global reach of UPI and RuPay cards as one of the key objectives under the internationalization pillar. The Reserve Bank is in negotiations with the central banks of various countries to conclude cooperation agreements.
In July 2023, the Reserve Bank and the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to interconnect their payment infrastructure. Under this MoU, India and the UAE have agreed to work together to link their rapid payment systems, India’s UPI with the UAE’s Instant Payment Platform (IPP) called Aani. Both countries also agreed to connect their respective card switches (RuPay switch and UAESWITCH).
In February 2024, RuPay cards and UPI connectivity between India and Mauritius were launched. With this connectivity, an Indian traveler to Mauritius will be able to pay a merchant in Mauritius using UPI apps. Similarly, a traveler from Mauritius will be able to do the same in India using instant payment system apps in Mauritius
In February 2024 UPI connectivity between India and Sri Lanka was launched. This connectivity enabled Indian travelers to pay via QR code at merchant locations in Sri Lanka using UPI apps.
The Reserve Bank of India and Nepal Rastra Bank are also exploring linking India’s UPI platform and Nepal’s National Payments Interface to enable cross-border payments. In June 2023, NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL) and Nepal Clearing House Ltd. (NCHL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for this purpose
UPI payment via QR code is already accepted for merchant (e-commerce) payments in France and Nepal. India has some sort of tie-up with seven countries for UPI payments.
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and was auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
