'RBI is working on expanding UPI to 20 countries by 2028-29'

Mumbai, June 1: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) along with NPCI international payments ltd (NIPL) will work towards taking UPI to 20 countries by FY29. RBI Annual report says possibilities will be explored for increasing the global footprints of UPI and RuPay.

"In light of goals for Viksit Bharat 2047, the Reserve Bank, along with NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL) will work towards taking UPI to 20 countries with initiation timeline of 2024-25 and completion timeline of 2028-29," the report said.

The RBI report further adds "Fast Payment System (FPS) collaboration with group of countries like European Union and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), as well as multilateral linkages will be explored".

The Payments Vision Document 2025 of RBI has outlined expanding the global outreach of UPI and RuPay cards as one of the key objectives under the internationalisation pillar. The Reserve Bank is in talks with central banks of various countries for entering into collaborative arrangements.

In July 2023, the Reserve Bank and the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for interlinking their payments infrastructure. Under this MoU, India and UAE have agreed to cooperate on linking their Fast Payment Systems, UPI of India with Instant Payment Platform (IPP) of UAE called Aani. Both countries also agreed to link their respective Card Switches (RuPay switch and UAESWITCH).