Fintech: India to make UPI available worldwide
The instant real-time payment system developed in India could soon expand across the globe
On July 5 during Digital India Week, the Indian government announced it is making some of its e-governance tools (including the Unified Payments Interface commonly referred to as “UPI” and the Aadhaar identity service) available to other countries through open APIs.
UPI is an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a division of the Reserve Bank of India. The interface oversees both inter-bank peer-to-peer (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions. Funds are instantly transferred between two bank accounts on a mobile platform.
Since its inception in 2016, UPI has handled 99 billion transactions (recording 2200 every second in May 2022). Needless to say, it’s a financial inclusion success story for the country.
France, the UAE and Singapore are the first nations to adopt the platform, while Nepal, Japan and China are in various stages of conversation. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently implied 30 other countries could soon follow suit.
Of course such international expansion is good PR for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his administration. “Therefore, today digital products like UPI are the centre of attraction for developed countries of the world, or those countries which cannot invest in this type of technology. Our digital solutions have the reach, are secure and have democratic values.” he boasted during at speech at during Digital India Week.
That being said, it is a testament to India’s progress in the Fintech space and its dedication to digital transformation.
This story was first published on The PhilaVerse (my Substack newsletter).
