France has approved the use of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to operate within the country. NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) and Lyra, a French leader in securing e-commerce and proximity payments, have jointly announced the acceptance of the UPI payment mechanism in France.
Indian tourists can now book their visits to iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower by purchasing tickets online using UPI. France has now become the first European nation to accept and adopt UPI. The announcement came during an event organised by the Indian Embassy in France, celebrating the Republic Day of India.
The Eiffel Tower is the first merchant to offer UPI payments in France, with plans to extend this service to other merchants in the tourism and retail sectors, according to NPCI International Payments Limited.
Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NIPL, expressed wish to enable the acceptance of NPCI’s payment solutions globally, creating an interoperable global payment system. He emphasised the goal of collaborating with financial institutions worldwide to establish partnerships for convenient and secure crossborder payment solutions.
Christophe Mariette, Commercial Director of Lyra France, highlighted the company’s long-standing presence in India and the strength of the collaboration, emphasising the commitment to offering a diverse range of global payment methods.
During his visit to France, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the UPI payment mechanism would commence from the iconic Eiffel Tower. Speaking at La Seine Musicale in Paris, PM Modi had lauded the transformative impact of UPI and other digital platforms in India, expressing happiness about India and France collaborating in this direction.
Last year, the Indian Government had permitted non-resident Indians (NRIs) from 10 countries, including Singapore, Australia, Canada, and the UK, to use UPI for sending and receiving money, linking their domestic bank accounts to their phone numbers abroad.
In February of the same year, India and Singapore integrated their digital payments systems, UPI and PayNow, enabling instant transfers. The collaboration involved DBS Bank in Singapore providing an exchange rate to the NPCI for UPI payments, facilitating seamless transactions between the two countries.
