- The Prime Minister announced that New Delhi and France have got into an agreement to use India’s flagship payment system in France.
- Earlier this year, India’s UPI and Singapore’s PayNow signed an agreement to make seamless, real-time, and secure cross-border transactions in both countries.
- UPI services have already been adopted by UAE, Singapore, Nepal, and Bhutan and NPCI is in talks with the US, Europe, and West Asia to extend it.
- India has expanded UPI services in more than a dozen countries across the world.
- NIPL, has joined hands with Liquid Group, to facilitate UPI payments across North Asia and Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.
The Prime Minister announced that New Delhi and France have got into an agreement to use India’s flagship payment system in France. “India and France have agreed to use UPI in France. Friends, in the coming days its beginning will be made from Eiffel Tower which means that Indian tourists will now be able to make payments in Rupees, through UPI, at Eiffel Tower,” PM Modi said.
The announcement comes a year after the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella body that offers UPI service, signed memorandums of understanding (MoU) with France’s Lyra, which is considered to be the European nation’s fast and secure online payment system. Unified Payments Interface, or UPI, is India’s mobile-based payment system that enables people to make round-the-clock payments through a virtual payment address created by the users.
Addressing the Indian diaspora PM Modi said: “Be it India’s UPI or other digital platforms, they have brought a huge social transformation in the country and I am happy that India and France are also working together in direction. India and France have agreed to use UPI in France. I will leave after the agreement. However, it is your job to move forward,” PM Modi said.
Indians visiting France will now be able to deploy this homegrown digital payments facility to carry out seamless transactions. UPI will make it easier for Indian tourists who earlier relied mostly on forex cards or had to carry cash for making payments.
Earlier this year, India’s UPI and Singapore’s PayNow signed an agreement that enables users in the two countries to make seamless, real-time, and secure cross-border transactions. UPI services have already been adopted by UAE, Singapore, Nepal, and Bhutan and NPCI is in talks with the US, Europe, and West Asia to extend it.
As per data by India’s central bank – the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), UPI transactions stood at Rs 139.2 trillion in FY23 or about 73 percent of all non-cash transactions in India in 2022.
Launched in 2016, UPI has witnessed rapid growth in India. In May this year, the number of UPI transactions touched 9.41 billion in May worth a whopping Rs 14.3 trillion in terms of value.
India has expanded UPI services in more than a dozen countries across the world. Bhutan was the first to launch BHIM UPI, the Indian government’s digital payment app, in July 2021. The same year, Malaysia’s Merchantrade Asia partnered with NPCI International to permit real-time remittances to India through UPI. In March last year, Nepal adopted UPI for digital transactions, becoming the first foreign country to do so. NPCI’s international arm, NIPL, has joined hands with Liquid Group, to facilitate UPI QR-based payments in 10 markets across North Asia and Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, reported a leading news agency.
Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in 10 countries, including Singapore, the United States, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United Kingdom, who have Non-Resident External (NRE) or Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) bank accounts can also avail UPI services. The diaspora in these countries can use their international mobile numbers to transact using UPI.
According to a report in June, India is in talks to take UPI to Gulf countries, including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
(With inputs from agencies)
