Countries That Adopted India’s UPI For Digital Payments

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UPI, India’s second most popular payment method after cash, is now being adopted by many other nations, allowing Indians to travel to such countries cashless.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI), created by the National Payments Corporation of India is an immediate real-time payment system.  The interface facilitates inter-bank peer-to-peer (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulates it, and it operates by instantly moving payments between two bank accounts using a mobile platform.

UPI Goes International

Liquid Group, a cross-border digital payment service provider, signed an agreement with NIPL in September 2021 to launch a UPI-based QR code payment system in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan beginning in 2022.

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On March 8, 2022, NIPL entered into an agreement with the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) to connect UPI with the Buna Payment Platform, which is linked to the Arab region’s central banks and financial organizations. This will facilitate multi-currency cross-border transactions.

Countries that accept payments through UPI and RuPay Cards

Here is a list of all the nations that have implemented UPI payments so far;

1. Singapore

NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) has collaborated with Singapore to accept UPI-based payments in 2021. If you are visiting Singapore, you may use your phone to download the BHIM UPI app and utilize it to make payments at specified retailers.

The Singapore Monetary Authority (MAS) and the Reserve Bank of India are also working to connect Singapore’s PayNow and India’s Unified Payments Interface real-time payment systems.

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2. Bhutan

The Indian government’s digital payment application BHIM UPI was released in Bhutan in July 2021 as part of India’s neighbourhood first strategy. In order to establish a QR code-based solution, NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) collaborated with Bhutan’s central bank.

Bhutan, in fact, was the first neighbouring nation to use BHIM. The implementation of UPI payments in Bhutan was recognized as a significant step in extending India’s fintech technologies to other nations.

3. Malaysia

In August 2021, Merchantrade Asia, a money transfer, digital payments, and mobile communications provider, has teamed up with NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), to provide real-time remittances to India.

4. United Arab Emirates

In April 2022, NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) partnered with NeoPay, a payments service company of Mashreq Bank of the United Arab Emirates.

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This has enabled Indians in the UAE to use UPI payments at payment terminals around the country. However, UPI payments are only accepted at NEOPAY-enabled stores, retail venues, and other merchants.

5. Nepal

Nepal, India’s neighbour, was one of the first foreign countries to implement India’s UPI payment system. The international branch of NPCI, NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), collaborated with Gateway Payments Service (GPS) and Manam Infotech to launch UPI services in Nepal.

6. France

France is the most recent country to accept payments using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and RuPay Cards. Lyra Network, a payment solution provider based in France, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Payments Corporation of India International (NPCI International). France has now become the sixth country to embrace UPI.

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Australia

During a bilateral virtual summit on 21 March 2022, India proposed early integration of UPI with the Australian New Payment Platform to improve higher education access and tourism potential.

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Russia

India and Russia expressed interest in continuing dialogue on accepting UPI and Faster Payments System (FPS) of the Central Bank of Russia within their respective national payment infrastructures.


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Manish Khandelwal
Manish Khandelwal

Manish Khandelwal, a travel-tech enthusiast with over a decade of experience in the travel industry. Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Travelobiz.com, he's passionate about writing.

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