Consider the following countries :
I. United Arab Emirates
II. France
III. Germany
IV. Singapore
V. Bangladesh
How many countries amongst the above are there other than India where international merchant payments are accepted under UPI?
(a) Only two
(b) Only three
(c) Only four
(d) All the five
The correct answer is (b) Only three.
Explanation
Here is a breakdown of the status of UPI international merchant payments for each country on the list:
- I. United Arab Emirates (UAE): Correct. NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) has partnered with payment networks in the UAE (like NEOPAY) to accept UPI payments at merchant locations.
- II. France: Correct. UPI payments were officially launched in France, starting with the Eiffel Tower in 2024. This was enabled by a partnership between NIPL and French payment company Lyra Network.
- III. Germany: Incorrect. While UPI is expanding into Europe (through partners like Worldline), its primary operational launch for merchant payments has been in France. As of now, widespread merchant acceptance in Germany is not live.
- IV. Singapore: Correct. India’s UPI and Singapore’s PayNow have a live, operational linkage. This allows users of either system to make direct cross-border payments to merchants in the other country.
- V. Bangladesh: Incorrect. While India and Bangladesh are in talks to link their payment systems, the current focus is on enabling cross-border remittances, not a live international merchant payment system.
Therefore, only three of the listed countries (UAE, France, and Singapore) accept UPI for international merchant payments.
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How UPI is Expanding Internationally
NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), a subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), is spearheading the global expansion of UPI. This is happening in two main ways:
1. Merchant Payments (P2M)
This is what the question is about. This model allows Indian travelers to pay foreign merchants by scanning a UPI QR code.
- How it works: NIPL partners with a local payment provider in the foreign country (e.g., Lyra in France, NEOPAY in UAE, Liquid Group in Singapore). When you scan the QR code, the transaction is processed through this partnership, and the amount is debited from your Indian bank account in rupees.
- Countries Live: This model is live in Bhutan, Nepal, Singapore, UAE, France, and Mauritius.
2. Remittances (P2P)
This model focuses on personal “Person-to-Person” money transfers, which is different from paying a merchant.
- How it works: This involves a direct link between India’s UPI and another country’s real-time payment system.
- Example: The UPI-PayNow linkage with Singapore is the most prominent example. It allows an Indian user to send money directly to a Singaporean bank account using just the recipient’s PayNow-linked mobile number (and vice-versa), with the currency conversion happening automatically.
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