PayPal’s Xoom adds UPI payments enabling remittances to India

By Edil Corneille

Xoom, PayPal’s international digital money transfer service announced its integration with NPIL’s/NPCI’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a real-time payment system facilitating inter-bank transactions in India. The development enables Non-Residential Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) living in the United States (US), Canada and Europe to remit money to family and friends in India. Using UPI to send money to India via Xoom is said to be easy as overseas senders only need to know Indian receivers’ UPI identity (ID) to send remittances instantly, 24 by 7 and 365 days of the year.

UPI is a payment mechanism which allows money transfers without having to source or share bank account details. Instead of bank account numbers and IFSC codes, the virtual payment address (VPA) is used to pay when customers send money via UPI. Another benefit of UPI is that one UPI ID works for many bank accounts; recipients of money transfers can link multiple bank accounts to receive payments and even set their default bank account for transactions.

“Xoom is a pioneer in creating fast, innovative and secure digital money transfers. Real-time payments via UPI in India have been a critical and essential payment tool during the pandemic and emerged as one of the most popular payments method in the country,” shared Julian King, Vice President and General Manager, Xoom. “India is an important market for us. We are delighted that Indian diaspora across many markets can now use UPI to send remittances back their loved ones back home with Xoom.”

Xoom customers can use UPI payments to remit money to 66 banks across India, including banks like State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Andhra, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Indian Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Federal Bank. India is a focus market for Xoom. The average transaction value of money sent to India via the service is four times higher compared to most other countries.

Xoom is said to be a fast and secure way to send money, pay bills and reload phones in over 160 countries globally. These remittances serve as a lifeline for many people around the world and are used to pay for things like utility bills, healthcare, education costs and emergencies.