The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | Feb 16th

By Puja Sharma

The Monday Roundup sets the scene for the week’s biggest news stories, industry deals, and upcoming events. For Prime subscribers only.

Merchant payments go borderless

NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has signed an agreement with Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) — Malaysia’s national payments network- to enable QR-based merchant payments between India and Malaysia.

The collaboration between NPCI International and PayNet Malaysia strengthens cross-border payment connectivity between India and Malaysia by enabling interoperable QR payment infrastructure that supports secure, efficient and seamless merchant payments for travellers in both countries.

The rollout of this initiative will happen in a phase-wise manner. In the first phase, Indian travellers visiting Malaysia will be able to use their UPI apps to make seamless cross-border merchant payments at DuitNow QR acceptance touchpoints. DuitNow QR is Malaysia’s national QR standard, operated by PayNet. In the next phase, Malaysians visiting India will be able to scan UPI QR codes to make payments to merchants using their DuitNow app.

With this integration, Indian tourists will gain access to millions of DuitNow QR merchant touchpoints in Malaysia, across restaurants, retail stores, tourist attractions, and other establishments. Similarly, Malaysian visitors to India will benefit from acceptance at millions of UPI QR–enabled merchant locations across the country.

In-Solutions Global Ltd (ISG has received regulatory authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) across all three Payment Aggregator categories: Online (PA-O), Physical/Offline (PA-P), and Cross-Border (PA-CB), under the latest RBI Master Directions for 2025–26.

With these approvals, ISG joins a select group of non-bank ecosystem players enabled to support merchant payments across domestic and international channels through a unified and fully compliant framework. Together, the three licences allow ISG to offer enterprises, banks, marketplaces and digital platforms a single payment aggregation stack capable of managing online transactions, in-person payments and cross-border import-export flows within a unified onboarding and settlement environment.

The RBI’s consolidated Payment Aggregator framework strengthens governance, cybersecurity, risk management, capital adequacy and consumer protection standards for non-bank intermediaries. ISG’s authorisation across all three categories ensures consistent compliance and operational integrity across every payment channel, positioning the company to support the next phase of India’s digital commerce and cross-border payments growth.

The instant payments race heats up

Viyona FinTech has entered into a strategic partnership with EFICYENT to expand the international reach of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The collaboration is designed to make UPI payments interoperable with overseas settlement and payout networks, enabling merchants outside India to accept UPI transactions. This move will allow Indian consumers and businesses to use familiar domestic payment rails when travelling, studying, or transacting abroad, while also supporting cross-border collections for enterprises.

The partnership will initially focus on key corridors such as the Middle East, North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia—regions that account for a significant share of India’s remittance inflows and outbound spending. By integrating UPI into these markets, the initiative aims to simplify international payments, reduce transaction costs, and enhance convenience for both merchants and customers.

UPI, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has become one of the world’s largest real‑time payment systems, processing billions of transactions monthly. Extending its acceptance globally represents a major step toward positioning UPI as a universal payment solution. The rollout will be phased and subject to regulatory approvals in each jurisdiction, ensuring compliance with local financial frameworks.

Ethiopia has introduced a nationwide instant payment system called EthioPay‑IPS, developed by EthSwitch in collaboration with Swiss payment technology provider BPC. Built on BPC’s SmartVista platform, the system enables real‑time transfers between banks and licensed payment providers, offering services such as account-to-account and wallet-to-wallet payments, QR‑based merchant transactions, alias transfers using identifiers like phone numbers, request‑to‑pay features, and recurring collections through e-mandates. It also supports bulk and trade payments, with merchants gaining access to dashboards and reporting tools.

EthSwitch, jointly owned by Ethiopia’s public and private banks along with the National Bank of Ethiopia, unveiled the EthioPay brand in December and has now rolled out EthioPay‑IPS to strengthen the country’s digital payment infrastructure. The SmartVista platform handles transaction routing, validation, and scheme compliance, ensuring instant confirmation of payments.

What is the Buzz

AlloyX Limited, a subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed Solowin Holdings, has announced a strategic collaboration with Bahrain FinTech Bay to advance regulated stablecoin solutions in the Gulf region. The partnership is designed to leverage Bahrain’s growing reputation as a hub for digital finance and innovation. By working within Bahrain FinTech Bay’s ecosystem—which includes financial institutions, fintech startups, and technology providers—AlloyX aims to explore practical applications of stablecoins such as cross-border payments, settlement systems, and tokenised financial services.

The initiative aligns with AlloyX’s broader vision of building a compliant blockchain-based payment infrastructure that meets institutional demand for secure and regulated digital assets. While financial details of the agreement were not disclosed, the company emphasised that regulatory approval from Bahraini authorities remains a key step before any market launch. This collaboration also involves engaging with global and regional partners to test next-generation stablecoin use cases, positioning Bahrain as a leader in digital asset adoption.

Executives from both organisations highlighted the partnership as a milestone in accelerating innovation and strengthening Bahrain’s role in shaping the future of digital finance. Although timelines for rollout were not specified, the effort underscores a preparatory phase focused on regulatory alignment and ecosystem development.