Paying through UPI is now possible for NRIs in ten countries

By Puja Sharma

NRIs (non-resident Indians) from ten countries can now send and receive money using UPI provided their domestic bank accounts are connected to their international phone numbers.

The National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI), an umbrella organisation for retail payments, stated that it may eventually expand this to other nations. It has requested that only accounts that abide by the Foreign Exchange Management Act make use of this option from its UPI-participating members.

According to Dilip Asbe, chief executive, of NPCI, “This allows the diaspora to use it not just when they come to India but also when they are abroad. They can make instant transfers and use it on e-commerce portals,”

Data presented in the Lok Sabha in February indicated that 13.5 million Indians were living overseas. According to experts, NPCI’s move would assist expand the use of a payment system that is already well-liked and reached 12.8 trillion in transactions in December. They claim that the step will result in more bank accounts being linked to UPI.

The covid-19 pandemic greatly increased the popularity of the UPI system, which was introduced in 2016. The NPCI recorded up to 74 billion transactions worth $1.53 trillion in 2022.

“The UPI onboarding and transaction facility being extended to Non-Resident account types like NRE/NRO is a welcome move. Currently, NPCI has issued a list of 10 countries, including Singapore, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. NRIs residing in these countries will be able to make payments from their international mobile numbers. All these years NRIs couldn’t access the UPI network since SIM binding, which is an important security feature of UPI, was available only to Indian SIM cards (phones). Now, mobiles (SIMs) from so many countries can be used, which will open up huge pending demand of NRI.” said Mr. Mandar Agashe, Founder MD VC of Sarvatra Technologies

They can now use UPI on their existing global mobile phones. This will not only help them use UPI when they travel to India but when UPI comes to merchants in the country of their residence they can start making instant transfers. NRIs will just need to link their NRE and NRO accounts linked to their international SIM to UPI and use it like any other Indian UPI user for merchant payment as well as peer-to-peer payments. Other than the 10 countries, we hope this facility will soon be available for NRIs residing in other nations as well.

Vishwas Patel, Chairman, Payments Council of India and Executive Director, Infibeam Avenues Ltd. on the announcement, “It is a far-sighted move, a move that would benefit the NRIs.

The major convenience factor would be in the form of ‘payment/money transfer convenience’ for NRIs when they visit India -their janmabhoomi and pay easily across millions of Indian merchants accepting UPI, thus, now they can do away with the use of their expensive international cards. As our honorable Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi ji mentioned, our expats (NRIs) are our ‘brand ambassadors’ ‘Rashtra Doots’ of India on foreign soil. I believe in the long run our NRIs ‘Rashtra Doots’ will play a vital role in increasing the adaption & popularity of Indian payment technology – UPI, in foreign soil and truly make UPI a global payment & money transfer network.”