UPI Transactions have become really popular in India in the current times. With no or minimal charges, it has emerged out to be a prominent payment system in India for conducting financial transactions. The Indian Government has been actively involved in promoting the UPI transactions across borders. As an outcome of this, various countries including Oman, Bhutan, UAE, France and other South-east nations have integrated UPI in their payments system.
What is UPI?
Unified Payment Interface is an interface developed by the National Payments Corporation of India in 2016 for instant payments facilitated through mobile devices. Initially, the intention was to conduct domestic financial transactions; however, now, UPI is available in foreign countries and can be used for international transactions.
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How does UPI work in Foreign Countries?
For making payments in foreign countries via UPI, a person needs to register his bank account with a UPI enabled mobile application. Once the linking is done, the user needs to add the recipient details such as IBAN, BIC, bank account number along with transfer amount and currency.
Once this process is completed, the user can immediately start transferring money via UPI to account holders from partner countries.
Note: The transactions will be subjected to certain fees like foreign exchange fees, conversion charges etc
For boosting the international transfers via UPI, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), that manages the overall UPI platform, has collaborated with two major global financial service providers – Wise and Western Union.
To further boost this process, several collaborations between NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) and payment processors in foreign countries like NEOPAY, the payment subsidiary of Mashreq bank in the UAE, PayNow in Singapore and Lyra in France have also taken place. Now, because of these partnerships, the users can securely make payments through UPI at merchant stores and digitally-enabled shops in partner countries.
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How can UPI be used by NRIs?
Non-Resident Indians are also eligible to use UPI if they link their mobile numbers to their Non-Residential External (NRE) or Non-Residential Ordinary (NRO) accounts. As per NPCI, country specific mobile numbers can be used in order to set up UPI as it has issued new guidelines permitting NRIs with NRE or NRO accounts to set up UPI with the mobile numbers.
Note: A valid Indian mobile number is required for the activation.
What are the Conversion Rates?
Usually, the conversion rates while using a UPI platform are provided by a reliable financial institution. Sometimes the conversions are carried out by using a fixed rate set by the user’s bank.
Note: The charged amount conveyed to the user before finalising the transaction.
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