Team Blitz India
INDIA’S homegrown digital payments system, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), has now reached Sri Lanka. An agreement in this regard was signed by the two countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in a joint briefing with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, on July 21 in New Delhi.
“The agreement signed to launch UPI in Sri Lanka will boost fintech connectivity,” said the Prime Minister.
The number of countries where Indians can use UPI for commercial transactions has now reached double-digit mark. The system was being accepted in Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives for long. Recently, France, UAE and Singapore agreed to integrate it with their respectable digital payment gateways.
Other big economies like the UK, Germany and Japan have shown a desire to explore the option and UPI hopes to enter new markets in the North American and Middle Eastern countries in the coming months.
Preferred pay mode: Initially launched for domestic use, the system has become preferred mode of payment. The growing demand for it to be available abroad shows recognition of the strength of the world’s fastest-growing economy and the trust India enjoys in international trade and finance.
The global partnerships for UPI adoption have come through the NIPL, which was incorporated in April 2020 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), devoted to the deployment of RuPay and UPI outside of India.
As India teams up with payments operators and makes UPI available for Indians overseas, cross-border remittances would become easier and faster. UPI is more convenient and safer than carrying foreign currency or using a credit card.
