UPI goes global: Which countries are adopting India's payment system
What's the story
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has revolutionized India's payment landscape. It is now steadily growing in popularity worldwide. The instant payment system recently made its entry into France. India is now in talks with several other countries to form a UPI partnership. The increasing attraction around UPI will help India become a major player in digital payments globally.
Context
Why does this story matter?
From a local solution that made digital payments easier and more accessible, UPI has become a global cross-border payment solution. UPI's popularity is closely tied to India's rise in digital payments. The once cash-based economy adopted UPI wholeheartedly. Now, India is the global leader in real-time digital payments. UPI's rise wasn't unnoticed, the result of which we are seeing now.
International
NIPL's focus varies depending on the country
In 2022, Nepal became the first foreign country to adopt UPI. The payment system's global push has been going on since then. UPI's foray into the global market is led by NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL). NIPL's approach related to UPI is different depending on the country. In some, the focus is building a similar infrastructure, while it concentrates on interoperability in others.
Singapore and France
Partnerships with France and Singapore are for interoperability
UPI's global ambitions took a significant step after it was linked with Singapore's PayNow earlier this year. The partnership was launched to make cross-border payments between India and Singapore cheap and easy. The partnership with France is also based on interoperability. Interoperability partnerships are aimed at helping NRIs, tourists, and students living in other countries. Using UPI will bring down remittance costs.
More countries
India is in talks to expand UPI to other countries
India recently inked a pact with UAE to interlink UPI and UAE's Instant Payment Platform. The government also plans to expand UPI to countries in the Middle East and North America where Indians have a significant interest. India has also signed an MoU with 13 countries, including Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan, for UPI adoption. Meanwhile, Indonesia has also expressed interest in UPI.
India
UPI has effectively replaced currency notes in India
UPI's global recognition coincides with the payment system's ever-increasing popularity on its home turf. According to a recent report by SBI, UPI has effectively replaced much of the currency notes in circulation. As of June 2023, UPI transaction volume was at 9.33 billion, while transaction value touched Rs. 14.75 trillion. UPI transactions also account for 75% of retail digital payments.