India’s UPI goes live at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, hopes to boost Paris Olympics

India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has expanded to the heart of Paris, where Galeries Lafayette’s flagship store on Haussmann Boulevard is now accepting UPI payments.

This historic move is a step forward towards realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of globalising UPI, an Indian instant payment system developed in 2016 by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

A press release issued by the Indian Embassy in France said, “On July 3, 2024, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) went live at the flagship store of the world-renowned Galeries Lafayette in Haussmann, Paris. The acceptance of UPI expands in Paris after the successful launch at the iconic Eiffel Tower.”

Javed Ashraf, Ambassador of India to France and Monaco, launched UPI live usage at the store in the presence of Nicolas Hauz, CEO of Galeries Lafayette, and Alain Lacour, Chairman of Lyra Group.

Recalling the success of the UPI launch at the Eiffel Tower in January 2024 and the meeting held for prospective merchants with NPCI International in February 2024, the Ambassador welcomed the prompt conclusion of the agreement and arrangement between Lyra and NPCI for the launch of UPI at the world-renowned Galeries Lafayette ahead of the Paris Olympics starting on 26 July 2024, which is expected to attract a large number of Indian visitors.

The release also said, “The Ambassador recalled the first international launch of UPI in Singapore in 2018 by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and expressed satisfaction at the international journey of UPI.”

he/she hoped that apart from being a quick, secure and efficient means of cross-border digital payments, UPI would evolve as a medium for cross-border money remittance and eventually become the go-to digital payment system in countries across the world.

As Paris prepares for the 2024 Olympics, the initiative aims to facilitate seamless transactions for the growing number of Indian visitors and underlines UPI’s emerging role as a global digital payment solution.