Geopolitics is driving UPI’s bid to go global. Here are the game plan and the challenges.

V Muraleedharan, Union Minister of State for External Affairs & Parliamentary Affairs, India visited Oman Investment Authority and met Executive President, H.E. Abdulsalam Al Murshidi; image credit: Twitter

Synopsis
India wants to mitigate the risks of a financial or geopolitical situation in which traditional payment channels come under pressure. For this, NIPL is zooming in on countries with a high flow of Indian tourists, or those that have a big diaspora sending remittances. However, consumer adoption and banks' willingness to join the project will pose challenges.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) recently entered into a partnership with French payments-transactions firm Worldline to enable Indian digital-payment modes in Europe. This includes point-of-sale (POS) payments through RuPay cards and QR code-based payments for UPI transactions. Over the last couple of months, NPCI has partnered with banks or payment companies in several countries such as Oman, Saudi Arabia, France, and the UK