A week after Unified Payments Interface (UPI) was launched in France, Sri Lanka and Mauritius are the latest countries to enable the Indian digital payment system.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe virtually to witness the launch event.
RuPay cards were also introduced in Mauritius today.
“Given India’s robust cultural and people-to-people linkages with Sri Lanka and Mauritius, the launch will benefit a wide cross-section of people through a faster and seamless digital transaction experience and enhance digital connectivity between the countries,” said his office.
Indians visiting the two countries will be able to use UPI to make payments while Mauritians travelling to India will also be able to use it. The extension of RuPay services will also enable Mauritian banks to issue RuPay cards and use them for settlements in both India and Mauritius.
“India has emerged as a leader in Fintech innovation and Digital Public Infrastructure. Prime Minister has placed a strong emphasis on sharing our development experiences and innovation with partner countries,” the government has said.
UPI was launched at the Eiffel Tower in Paris on February 2 during the Republic Day reception, which the government had termed as part of PM Modi’s “vision of taking UPI global”.
The UPI is a mobile-based payment system in India that allows round-the-clock payments via a virtual payment address. It powers multiple bank accounts into a single app and brings several banking features under one hood.