A latest move from National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI) could enable Non-resident Indians (NRIs) from 10 countries to use UPI to send and receive money if their domestic bank accounts are linked to their phone numbers abroad.
UPI Facility Enable For Other Countries
This facility is enabled for the countries including Singapore, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, US, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
The Retail payments umbrella body, NPCI further announced that they are planning extend this fascility to the other countries in future.
Moreover, NCPI has asked members participating in UPI to ensure that only those accounts complying with the Foreign Exchange Management Act use this facility.
How Does This Help?
On this subject, the chief executive, NPCI, Dilip Asbe said, “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,”.
It appears that this latest move will also benefit the lenders as well as it would help them in keeping the transactions flow in the bank accounts.
On 10 January, NCPI said that all member banks must follow the directives by 30 April.
A Far Sighted Move
The chairman, Payments Council of India, Vishwas Patel said, “It is a far-sighted move, a move that would really benefit the NRIs. The major convenience factor would be in the form of payments for NRIs when they visit India and pay easily across millions of Indian merchants accepting UPI.”
Once this implemented, the NRIs will no longer have the need to use their international cards while visiting in India, he said.
The data submitted in the Lok Sabha in February indicates that there were 13.5 million Indians living abroad.
NPCI’s decision will help widen an already-popular payment mechanism that, in December, touched Rs 12.8 trillion in transactions, said the experts.
This development is most likely to expand the number of bank accounts linked to UPI.
One must consider how many Indians reside overseas, and the business opportunities it presents, siad Manan Dixit, co-founder of FidyPay, a fintech API platform.
Further adding, “Even if chances existed for players like us, we were unable to engage in commercial activities. On the other hand, there are numerous opportunities for us to expand at this time, which will allow us to service a broader range of market sectors and garner greater attention,”.
