Countries and territories covered for use of India's Unified Payment Interface UPI www.deekpay.com

India expands its globaldigital paymentSignificant progress has been made in system networks, such as RUPAY,UPI(Unified Payment Interface of India), etc., Europe is the latest to acceptIndia PaymentsOne of the areas of the system.

Adoption of different forms ofIndia PaymentsThe countries on the system include France, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Singapore, Maldives, Bhutan and Oman. This means Indians can now make payments through UPI etc. in these countries.

Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 Digital Economy Working Group meeting in Lucknow, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said [13 February 2023] that India has engaged with 13 organisations that want to adopt the UPI interface fordigital paymentSingapore has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States of America, and Singapore has completed its UPI integration.

These global partnerships have been made possible because NIPL (NPCI International Payments Limited) is in the process of establishing partnerships with different countries to build a large acceptance network for RUPAY and UPI, which will allow Indian travellers to make payments through these channels in the countries of their travel destinations.NIPL was established in April 2020 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). ), a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), is committed to deploying RUPAY and UPI outside India.

Further, in order to realise its ambition of expanding the digital economy, India has declared UPI available to NRIs in 10 countries where Indian bank accounts are linked to foreign mobile phone numbers as well as foreign travellers to India.

Global adoption of UPI payment systems in India: partners in agreement

Announcement of Entities Partnering with the UPI Network Country July 2021 Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan Bhutan September 2021 Monetary Authority of Singapore PayNow Singapore August 2021 Asia Business & Trade Fair Malaysia September 2021 Liquid Group Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan November 2021 Network International UAE February 2022 Gateway Payment Services, Manam Infotech Nepal April-August 2022 LuLu Financial, NEOPAY (Mashreq Bank) UAE June 2022 July 2023 Lyra India and France agreed to implement this initiative after PM Modi's visit to France. France August-September 2022 Terrapay, PayXpert UK October 2022 Worldline Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland October 2022 Central Bank of Oman Oman July 2023 Central Bank of the UAE Instant Payments Platform (IPP) UAE July 2023 UPI Inter-Network Agreement [in Ranil Wickrema announced during President Sinha's two-day visit to India] Sri Lanka

UPI payment facility for inbound foreign travellers from G20 countries

On 8 February 2023, the Reserve Bank of India proposed to allow foreign visitors to India to use UPI for retail payments (point to merchant or P2M transactions).

Initially, the UPI facility will allow travellers from G20 countries to arrive at selected international airports. The Group of Twenty (G20) consists of 19 countries - Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United States of America the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the European Union.

The CBN also clarified that "Going forward, the facility will be operationalised at all other points of entry in the country. Necessary operational instructions will be issued soon." Please refer to the Reserve Bank of India Circular 'Statement of Development and Regulatory Policy' issued on 8 February 2023 here.

India and Russia Discuss Use of RUPAY and Mir Cards and UPI-FPS Interaction

India and Russia are engaged in high-level discussions to put in place mechanisms to ease cross-border payments. This includes mutual acceptance of RUPAY (India) and Mirka (Russia) for payments in Indian rupees and roubles in their respective markets.UPI IndiaThe interaction of the system with the Bank of Russia's Fast Payment System (FPS) is also being explored. Russian officials also discussed India's adoption of the Russian FPS (Bank of Russia's Financial Information System Service) for cross-border payments.

India and Thailand Discuss Links Between Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Instant Payment Services

During the 13th meeting of the India-Thailand Joint Trade Committee (JTC), the progress of connectivity of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in India with Thailand's Instant Payment Service was reviewed. Thailand is an important trading partner in South East Asia, accounting for 16% of India's total trade with the region.Thailand is also an important destination for Indian outbound travellers. Last year, Thailand received more than 11 million foreign tourists, of which nearly 1 million were Indians, making India the second largest source of tourists to Thailand in 2022 after Malaysia.

Popularity of India's Unified Payment Interface in Overseas Markets

Singaporean

From 21 February, people living in Singapore and India will be able to transfer money to each other instantly via UPI and PayNow. According to the Hindustan Times, "The cross-border real-time payments system linkage was launched at 11am on Monday (20 February), led by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das and RBI Managing Director Ravi Menon. Monetary Authority of Singapore [MAS]. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong attended the launch virtually."

Residents of India can now transact with Singaporeans through payment apps such as Google Pay that are linked to a mobile phone number using the UPI interface.

Nepali

Nepal has become the first country to deploy UPI as a payment platform.NIPL has partnered with Gateway Payments Service (GPS), an authorised payment system operator in Nepal, and Manam Infotech, Bangalore.UPI will be deployed in Nepal as a digital public good to support interoperable, real-time person-to-person (P2P) and merchant (P2M) payment transactions. merchant (P2M) payment transactions.

Bahrain

Bahrain has expressed interest in setting up payment integration systems like India's UPI and Singapore's PayNow Connect. Initial discussions have taken place. Fintech is clearly a priority for the small Gulf state.

Bhutan

Bhutan has become the first country to adopt the Indian UPI standard for its Quick Response (QR) code. It is also the second country after Singapore to accept BHIM-UPI at merchant locations. On 13 July 2021, UPI was opened to the Royal Bhutan Monetary Authority. BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) is an Indian digital payment application that runs through UPI, a system that integrates multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application.

European

NIPL has entered into a partnership with Worldline, a European payment service provider, with the aim of expanding European access to theIndia PaymentsChannel acceptance. Under the partnership, Worldline's QR code-based mechanism will allow European merchants' point-of-sale (PoS) systems to accept UPI payments from Indians using their mobile phones.

Later, Indian customers will also be able to make payments in Europe using RUPAY debit or credit cards.

Apart from enabling Indians to travel hassle-free and enjoy a seamless payment infrastructure, this initiative will also increase the customer-related benefits available to European merchants due to increased footfalls and spending by Indian tourists.

NIPL said in a press release that it will target markets such as the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) and Switzerland. It will expand further as WorldlineQR is launched in more European countries.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

In order to further strengthen itsCross-border paymentsSolutions, TerraPay, a leading global payments infrastructure group, on 22 September 2022 announced a partnership with NIPL. The partnership is designed to enable Indian customers and merchants with valid UPIIDs to make and receiveCross-border payments. -Leverages TerraPay's flexible infrastructure and UPI network for seamless border payments.

Omani

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and NIPL in October 2022 will enable the RUPAY card in India and the UPI platform in Oman to facilitate seamless digital remittances, which will benefit Indian workers and professionals.

According to the Indian Embassy in Oman, as of May 2021, there were about 624,000 Indians in Oman, of which about 483,901 were workers and professionals.

French

On 13 July 2023, Prime Minister Modi announced that India and France had agreed to implement the FrenchUPI Indiapayment mechanism, starting with the Eiffel Tower. The move will allow Indian tourists to pay in Indian rupees in France, marking a significant development in bilateral trade and tourism between the two countries.

Notably, in 2022, NPCI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lyra, a French secure online payment system, further strengthening the foundation for smooth and secure digital transactions between India and France.

UAE

On 15 July 2023, India and the UAE signed an agreement to interconnect their payment and messaging systems. The MoU, signed by the Governors of the respective Federal Banks of the two countries, will enable the integration of India's UPI with the UAE's Instant Payment Platform (IPP), facilitating more efficient cross-border transactions.UPI is India's real-time payment system, while IPP is the UAE's equivalent system.

In early 2022, NIPL partnered with LuLu Financial Holding, Mashreq Bank and Network International in the UAE to support theUPI paymentsThe launch took place on 21 April 2022 in the country. On 21 April 2022, UPI was launched in the country through Mashreq's NeoPay.

Singaporean

In July 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed an agreement with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to enable interoperability between UPI and PayNow.The UPI-PayNow link will enable users of the two fast-payment systems to make instant, low-cost fund transfers on a reciprocal basis without the need to log on to the other payment system.

PayNow is Singapore's fast payment system for peer-to-peer fund transfers to retail customers through the country's participating banks and non-bank financial institutions (NFIs). It enables users to send and receive instant funds from one bank or e-wallet account to another in Singapore using only their mobile phone number, Singapore ID/FIN or VPA.

Malaysia

In 2021, Malaysia's Merchantrade Asia partnered with NIPL to allow remittances to India through UPI.

NRE or NRO account holders with an international mobile phone number can register and trade on the UPI platform

As per the notification issued by NPCI 2023 dated 10th January, the UPI platform will be able to serve Non-Resident Account Holders (NRE/NRO Accounts) from 10 countries/territories having International Mobile Numbers if certain conditions are met NRIs use NRE Accounts for transferring their foreign income to India and NRO Accounts to help them manage the income they earn in India. Their banks have to ensure that NRE/NRO accounts are in compliance with Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) regulations and guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from time to time, in addition to preventing money laundering or terrorist financing. This means that NRIs seeking to transact through the UPI platform in these prescribed countries/regions do not require an Indian mobile phone number. It will help international students, families living abroad and local businesses. Co-operative banks will have to comply with the NPCI directives by 30th April, 2023