Synopsis: NPCI planning to take RuPay and UPI to global markets. This development comes soon after the MasterCard regulatory issues from the regulatory body of India the Reserve Bank of India.
NPIC or the National Payment Corporation of India is planning actions with several international organizations to broader the worldwide access of RuPay and Universal Payment Interface (UPI) in West Asia, the United States, and Europe.
“We want to see RuPay and UPI accepted in more places throughout the world where Indians go on vacations, study, work, or even stay,” Ritesh Shukla chief executive of NPCL said.
Regulatory authorities, huge banks, financial technology companies, and even umbrella payment organizations from various nations may be among those transacting agencies. Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, as well as European and North American countries, Mauritius, and Singapore, are all likely destinations, according to payment industry insiders.
One of the seniors in the payment industry who is an executive in a company told in a press meet that US-based Zelle or The Clearing House might be partners as well. However, he did not reveal the names of companies or agencies with which NPCI is talking.
The Clearing House Payments Company administers fundamental payments system infrastructure in the United States, while Zelle Network is a payment platform in the United States that deals with banks and credit unions.
As of press time Sunday, neither Zelle Network nor The Clearing House had responded to the media’s inquiries.
The news comes as MasterCard, the world’s largest payment company, faces regulatory challenges in India.
MasterCard was barred from issuing new cards by the Reserve Bank of India last week due to non-compliance with data storage localization laws. According to industry experts, this development will certainly push several banks that use its services to contact RuPay.
RuPay already has a 60 percent market share in India in terms of card numbers, beating MasterCard and Visa, which had previously controlled the market.
Since its inception in 2016, UPI has seen a 285 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in payment volume, with a target of $457 billion by 2020.
To make UPI a payment system with worldwide reach, NIPL (NPCL International Payments Ltd) will talk with QR or quick response operator providing companies.
Bhutan recently became the first country to adopt UPI standards for its QR code. It is also the second country after Singapore to have Bhim-UPI acceptance at merchant locations, NIPL had said last week.
Both UPI and RuPay are payment services delivered through NPCI’s multi-rail payment network.
Since both UPI and RuPay systems are provided by the NIPL (NPCL International Payments Ltd), RuPay will work as terminals of point of sale and ATMs.
