UPI is expanding its reach in international markets by now supporting payments by RuPay cards in France as well. The National Payments Corporation of India International (NPCI) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lyra Network, a France-based payments solutions provider. The announcement was made by Union Communications and Electronics & IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The MoU allows users to make payments in France at any POS terminals and machines using the existing UPI ID created. The service is currently available only for RuPay cards. It is unclear as of now if other card providers will be supported as well. The move is a boost for Indians who travel abroad internationally.
An MoU has been signed b/w NPCI, International and Lyra Network of France for 'Acceptance of UPI & Rupay Card in France. India is doing 5.5 billion UPI transactions in a month. Today's MoU with France is a big achievement for us: Union Communications Min Ashwini VaishnawJune 15, 2022
Apart from France, the UPI is currently being accepted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore and Bhutan. The UPI payment allows users to make payments using their smartphones without the need to carry debit cards. The transactions are secured using a UPI PIN, thus making it secure. Since the launch of the service, the digital payments traffic has exploded both in urban and rural areas. Additionally, NPCI also allows users to use the same service even if they’re in a locality with poor internet connectivity.
Lyra Network has previously worked with India in expanding the country’s digital reach to rural areas through its Indian arm. The company’s Last Mile connectivity solutions and the Lyra Connect support businesses with broadband solutions and POS terminals and ATMs networks in many of the country’s rural areas. In the UAE, the NPCI has partnered with NeoPay which is a subsidiary of Mashreq Bank.
End of physical payment cards?
UPI's growth has been unprecedented since its launch in the country in 2016. Many users prefer to make payments through apps like Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm by just scanning QR codes. The hassle of carrying multiple debit and credit cards in our wallets is eliminated completely. Now anyone travelling abroad can link their international cards as well. A convenience for anyone travelling abroad. And this is just the beginning.
The RBI recently announced that credit cards can also be linked to UPI. While it is currently kicking off the feature with RuPay cards, it’s sure to include Visa and Mastercard as well.
As digital cards are also available from most banks, physical payment cards could be eliminated. It could be interesting if RBI allowed banks to instantly issue cards from branches by just scanning a QR code and adding them to UPI apps directly.
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