France likely to subscribe to India’s UPI during PM Modi’s visit

Paris, FranceEdited By: Vikrant SinghUpdated: Jul 13, 2023, 11:39 AM IST

France likely to join India’s UPI network Photograph:(Twitter)

Story highlights

Earlier this year, UPI and Singapore’s PayNow signed an agreement that allowed users from both nations to make cross-border transactions.

France could soon become Europe’s first country to subscribe to India’s digital payment technology Unified Payments Interface or UPI. The announcement could be made during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming two-day visit to France. India’s National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the company behind UPI, and France’s Lyra have been working on the project for over a year now.

Earlier this year, UPI and Singapore’s PayNow signed an agreement that allowed users from both nations to make cross-border transactions.

Work in progress for over one year

Last year, India’s Union Communication Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had announced that India’s UPI and Rupay will be available in France soon. He made this announcement when an agreement was inked between UPI and France’s Lyra.
“The whole world is watching that India is doing 5.5 billion UPI transactions in a month. This is a big achievement for India. Today’s MoU with France is a big step towards the world,” the minister had said.

If the deal is executed as planned, the linkage will be launched by PM Modi from an iconic location in Paris during his visit.

How UPI is driving India’s digital payments revolution

The Economic Survey 2023, which was published earlier this year by India’s Finance Ministry, reports that UPI accounted for over 52 per cent of the total 8.84 billion digital financial transactions conducted in the fiscal year 2022-23.

Watch: UPI to take over 90% of retail digital payments in India

The month of December 2022 witnessed a significant milestone for UPI, with transactions reaching an all-time high in terms of value. In that month alone, an astonishing 7.82 billion transactions worth INR 12.8 lakh crore were carried out.

UPI’s ongoing internationalisation

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is currently in discussions to export the UPI system to several Gulf countries, including the UAE and Bahrain. This development is expected to greatly benefit Indian workers residing and working in those countries, as they frequently send money to their family members back in India.

Moreover, the NPCI has already granted permission for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) from various countries such as Singapore, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, the US, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and the UK to utilize UPI with their international phone numbers while staying in India.