Following Singapore, the RBI is in discussions with several nations, including Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, and Mauritius, to establish a direct payment link of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with networks in these nations to enable quicker and less expensive fund transfers using mobile phones.
Other Latin American nations have also expressed interest, a senior RBI official said on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors conference. In addition to allowing foreigners to use UPI, the central bank is displaying UPI and the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), commonly known as the digital rupee, to attendees at the event.
The regulator and the government are keen to expand UPI payment links to aid fund transfers and do away with the high costs charged by banks and reduce the time taken. The move is seen to be especially beneficial for the Indian diaspora.
The RBI official said use of UPI for non-resident Indians will also be operationalised next month, which will allow the use of the tool through international phone numbers.
Although the tool was enabled, it could not be implemented due to technical issues. Officials from RBI stated that they are attempting to significantly scale up the pilot in order to cover as many cases in a closed user group as they can. The RBI is now trying to extend to other locations and incorporate more banks on the retail side, where pilots are already being conducted in a number of cities.