RBI working on expanding UPI to 20 countries by 2028-29: RBI Annual Report

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) along with NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) will work towards expanding UPI to 20 countries by FY29. The RBI annual report states that possibilities of expanding the global spread of UPI and RuPay will be explored.

“In line with the goals of Developed India 2047, the Reserve Bank, in collaboration with NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), will work towards rolling out UPI to 20 countries with an initial timeline of 2024-25 and a completion timeline of 2028-29,” the report said.

The RBI report further said that “Fast Payment System (FPS) cooperation as well as multilateral relationships with groupings of countries such as the European Union and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) will be explored.”

RBI’s Payments Vision Document 2025 outlines global reach of UPI and RuPay cards as one of the key objectives under the internationalisation pillar. The Reserve Bank is in talks with central banks of various countries to enter into collaborative arrangements.

In July 2023, the Reserve Bank and the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to interlink their payment infrastructure. Under this MoU, India and the UAE have agreed to cooperate on linking their fast payment system, India’s UPI, with the UAE’s instant payment platform (IPP) Aani. The two countries also agreed to link their respective card switches (RuPay Switch and UAESWITCH).

RuPay card and UPI connectivity was launched between India and Mauritius in February 2024. With this connectivity, an Indian traveller travelling to Mauritius will be able to pay a merchant in Mauritius using the UPI app. Similarly, a Mauritian traveller will be able to do the same in India using the Mauritius Instant Payment System app.

UPI connectivity was launched between India and Sri Lanka in February 2024. This connectivity has enabled Indian travelers to make QR code-based payments at merchant locations in Sri Lanka using the UPI app.

The Reserve Bank of India and Nepal Rastra Bank are also exploring the possibility of a connection between India’s UPI platform and Nepal’s National Payments Interface to enable cross-border payments. In June 2023, NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) and Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding for this purpose.

UPI payments through QR codes are already being accepted for merchant (e-commerce) payments in France and Nepal. India has some sort of agreement with seven countries to make payments through UPI.