Paris, France, July 15: To facilitate cross-border payment transactions for NRIs and Indian tourists, France has partnered with India to adopts India’s flagship payment system UPI in France.
While addressing the Indian diaspora in Paris, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said “Through UPI, Indian tourists will now be able to make payments in Rupees at Eiffel Tower”.
This move marks a milestone in UPI’s global expansion.
UPI’s Rapid Growth in India:
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), enables users to make 24/7 payments using a QR code or a four/six-digit PIN, making it highly convenient and accessible.
Launched in 2016, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has rapidly gained traction in India, revolutionizing the country’s digital payment landscape.
In India, different payment apps including BHIM, PhonePe, Paytm, Google Pay, SBI Pay, and BOB UPI allow users to make payments through UPI.
In recent years, digital transactions have surged in India, with 40 percent of all transactions, worth $3 trillion being digital in 2021. Projections indicate that India’s digital payment market is set to triple to $10 trillion by 2026.
India’s UPI has been gaining global recognition for its remarkable achievements in the digital payment arena.
In 2022, India led the world in real-time payments, accounting for an impressive 46 percent global share, with 89.5 million digital transactions. In comparison, Brazil with 29.2 million transactions was second followed by China with 17.6 million transactions.
Expanding UPIs Global Footprints:
As France adopts India’s UPI, the first European nation to adopt the system, UPI’s global footprint now extends to more than a dozen countries.
Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Indian tourists in 10 countries, including Singapore, the United States, Australia, the UK, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, can already avail of UPI services, even using their international mobile numbers.
The partnership between India and France will facilitate seamless, real-time, and secure cross-border transactions, enabling users in both countries to benefit from the convenience of UPI.
This development comes following the signing of the MoU between NPCI and France’s Lyra, a reputed online payment system, a year ago.
East Asia
Looking ahead, NPCI’s international arm, NIPL, has forged partnerships to expand UPI services across various regions. In East Asia, NIPL is collaborating with Liquid Group to facilitate UPI QR-based payments in markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.
West Asia
Additionally, discussions are underway to introduce UPI in Gulf countries like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Europe
Europe is also on the radar, with Worldline, a European payment services facilitator, joining forces with NIPL to expand UPI services in countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. Worldline’s QR code-based mechanism will enable Indians to conveniently make payments to merchants in Europe using their mobile phones.
India’s digital payment initiatives, including UPI and RuPay, are rapidly expanding their presence worldwide, positioning India as a digital superpower. As France adopts India’s UPI, its reach continues to grow, fostering seamless cross-border transactions and promoting the convenience of digital payments on a global scale.
