Indians travelling abroad can now pay foreign merchants via UPI in UAE, Singapore, Nepal, Bhutan and Mauritius. Digital payment company PhonePe on Tuesday launched its ‘UPI international’ payments feature, making it the first fintech in the country to enable cross-border UPI payments.
The UPI payments can be made to foreign merchants in the said countries, provided they have a local QR code. Just like international debit cards, users can make the UPI payments in the foreign currency from their Indian bank.
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PhonePe users have to activate their UPI-linked account for the UPI International feature, either at the merchant location or prior to their trip. The users will then have to enter their UPI pin to activate the service.
The fintech’s co-founder and chief technology officer Rahul Chari said the UPI international feature is the first major step in letting the rest of the world experience UPI too, the way India has over the last six years. “I am sure this launch will prove to be a gamechanger and will completely transform the way Indians traveling overseas pay at merchant outlets abroad. PhonePe has always prided itself in being the first TPAP to take new UPI features to the market, and this time is no different. We are glad that PhonePe is leading this change. The entire world needs to experience UPI!,” he said.
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“Over the course of this year, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in collaboration with NIPL (NPCI International Payments Limited) plans to roll out UPI International in more countries, while also enabling greater merchant acceptance in the regions where this feature is currently live,” PhonePe said in a statement.
