Globalising UPI

NEW DELHI: In January transactions using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) nearly touched a record 9 billion. Of this nearly two out of three were for sums less than Rs500. And now UPI is going global. Recently, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which drives UPI, inked a deal with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to enable seamless cross-border transactions using UPI. Earlier, NPCI International had signed a contract with Mashreq Bank in the United Arab Emirates to enable UPI transactions. While UPI has hogged the headlines, NPCI’s bouquet of services is much bigger. It has combined with Aadhaar, the 12- digit unique identity, to create a world class payments bridge— which can be used for a range of functions, including UPI. Many may not know that NPCI has enabled the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) on welfare payments by the Union Government. Cumulatively it has saved nearly Rs 3 lakh crore to the national exchequer in leakages, while ensuring the payment reaches the intended beneficiary in real time.
Similarly, its product Bharat Bill Pay is beginning to gain traction. And, of course every time you cross a toll on the rapidly proliferating highways you are being billed by FasTag, another service powered by NPCI. To understand the implications of the customer facing institution’s growing footprint, we spoke to Praveena Rai, Chief Operating Officer, NPCI.