Boost for bilateral ties as UPI-based payments to be accepted in Sri Lanka

NEW DELHI: India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) technology will now be accepted in neighbouring Sri Lanka.

Several agreements, including that of UPI’s acceptance in the island country, were exchanged between India and Sri Lanka in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe in the national capital on Friday.

The UPI payments system has become hugely popular for retail digital payments in India, and its adoption is increasing at a rapid pace. So far, France, the UAE and Singapore had parterned with India on the emerging fintech and payment solutions.

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is India’s mobile-based fast payment system, which facilitates customers to make round-the-clock payments instantly, using a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) created by the customer.

In February 2023, India and Singapore signed an agreement to link their respective payment systems, allowing users in either country to make cross-border transactions. People in both the countries will be able to send money real-time via QR code based or simply by entering mobile numbers linked to the bank account.

Earlier this month, France had agreed to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payment mechanism. It will begin from the iconic and tourist hotspot Eiffel Tower.

Also, an MoU was exchanged to interlink the payment and messaging systems between the Reserve Bank of India and the Central Bank of the UAE. It will facilitate the integration Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India and the Instant Payments Platform (IPP) of the UAE.

India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing ecosystems for fintech innovation and the PM Modi-led government has been instrumental in driving the globalisation of India’s digital payment infrastructure.

A key emphasis of Indian government has been on ensuring that the benefits of UPI are not limited to India only, but other countries, too, benefit from it.

Taking into account the popularity of the UPI payment system, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed to permit all inbound travellers to India to use UPI for their merchant payments while they are in the country.

To begin with, the facility will be extended to travellers from G20 countries arriving at “select international airports”. On February 8, the RBI governor Skaktikanta Das made the announcement while deliberating upon the outcome of the three-day monetary policy committee meeting. (ANI)