UPI’s International Expansion Planned: Can UPI Beat Mastercard, Visa Globally?

After a year of planning for overseas expansion, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has now launched a new entity NPCI International Limited (NIPL) intending to expand its highly successful Unified Payment Interface (UPI) in the global market!

Read on to find out more about NIPL…

NPCI has Poured In Rs 50 Crore For NIPL!

NPCI with its UPI payment system has disrupted the digital payments landscape in India since its launch in 2016. UPI recorded 5.39 billion transactions amounting to Rs 8,76,970.72 crore in FY20. 

The growth of UPI in the current fiscal can be cited to three main Payment Service Providers (PSPs) in the country – Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm.

According to incorporation documents, NPCI’s latest development is a part of the company’s efforts to promote the growth of its business and expansion of payments and settlement services in national and international landscapes through electronic and paper-based clearing systems.

This move also comes at a time when UPI, in July this year witnessed 1.49 billion transactions worth Rs 2,90,537 crore. As each month goes by, UPI can be seen breaking all its previous records with respect to processing transactions in terms of both volume and value. 

A separate regulatory filing indicates that NPCI has invested an authorized capital of Rs 50 crore in NIPL in May.

Who Is Involved In NPCI’s latest venture?

Ritesh Shukla, previously a part of Paytm’s rival, Mastercard business in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) market, has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for NIPL.

Also, Anubhav Sharma who briefly left NPCI to work for Paytm has made a comeback to look after business development, partnership, and marketing segments of NPCI’s international subsidiary.

Apart from the above mentioned, the initial subscribers include Praveena Rai, Rajendra Narayanan, Ashish Pai, Priyanka Agrawal. Currently, NIPL comprises of 6 directors who all are senior executives at NPCI.

What Are NPCI’s Future Expansion Plans?

According to Entrackr, the NPCI has been in advanced talks with a few banks and financial entities to test a UPI-like infrastructure in UAE and Southeast Asian countries.

NPCI is also gearing up to enable Near Field Communication-based (NFC) payment facility by partnering with banks and Point of Sale (PoS) device manufacturers in India.

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, more people are shifting to digital payments.

It will be interesting to see an Indian organization’s foray into the overseas digital transaction landscape!