India pushes payment system UPI to go global www.deekpay.com

## India's mobile payment system goes global: from Eiffel Tower to Sri Lanka In recent years, India's mobile payment system, the Unified Payment Interface Application (UPI), has been sweeping the globe at a rapid pace, from the Eiffel Tower, a European landmark, to Sri Lanka, an Asian country. From 26 January this year, Indian tourists can use UPI to buy Eiffel Tower tickets, simply by scanning a QR code. The service was developed by French company Lyra, which entered the Indian market 17 years ago. Christopher Mariette, sales director of Lyra, said that millions of Indians currently visit France every year and the number is growing 20% to 30% annually.The target application scenarios for UPI include places of interest, hotels, modes of transport and merchants. Since the launch of UPI by the Indian government in 2016, the technology has revolutionised the mobile payments market in India. Indians use UPI to shop online as well as buy vegetables or cigarettes from street vendors. Satish Meena, an analyst at Data Intelligence India, noted that UPI technology has been widely accepted by Indian consumers. In December 2023 alone, the volume of UPI transactions was 12 billion, mainly used for micropayments. for the whole of 2023, more than 100 billion transactions were done through UPI, with a turnover of ₹2,000 crore. The UPI system was developed by the government as open source and is available on third-party applications, such as Google and Amazon's payment systems. It connects to over 500 banks, allowing payments and real-time bank transfers to be made via mobile apps. Unlike other payment systems, UPI is not an electronic payment wallet but an instant transfer tool between bank accounts, Mina said. The UPI service is completely free. According to Mumbai-based independent analyst Hemindra Hazari, the low cost and huge volume of transactions that have greatly increased the penetration of mobile payments in a country like India, where per capita income is low, is a major success for the Indian government. The Indian government is also trying to use UPI as a diplomatic and soft power tool, especially in the Global South. On 12 February this year, Prime Minister Modi announced the launch of UPI services for Indian tourists in Sri Lanka and Mauritius. Earlier, UPI had signed agreements with Singapore, UAE, Bhutan and Thailand. Indian labourers working in Singapore and the UAE will be able to connect to UPI through local mobile payment systems to send money back to India. The road to globalisation of India's mobile payment system has just begun and it is worth waiting to see how it will evolve in the future. (This article refers to the "Reference News" report, but the article structure and language expression has been adjusted, and added personal views and analyses.)