The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) subsidiary that has been tasked with taking its payment technologies global, would sign an initial agreement on Thursday with Al Etihad Payments to help develop the United Arab Emirates’ domestic scheme for payment cards, a senior official said.
The NPCI International Payments will sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Al Etihad to develop the card system based on RuPay’s debit and credit card stack. The signing will take place in the presence of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal who embarks on a two-day visit to UAE starting tomorrow.
India and UAE in July signed an MoU to link fast payment systems of both countries – Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and Instant Payment Platform (IPP). They had also agreed to link the respective card switches – Rupay Switch and UAE Switch – and explore linking of payment systems.
An agreement was also signed between the two countries on settlement of bilateral trade in local currencies. UPI payments had already been enabled on some payment platforms in the UAE in 2022.NPCI has been working on taking UPI, Rupay and other indigenously developed technologies global and talks are on with central banks of different countries.Right now Singapore, France, UK, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal and Oman are the countries where Indians can pay using UPI.
The Commerce Minister is leading a business delegation to UAE and would co-chair India-UAE High-Level Task Force on Investments along with Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.The Joint Task Force was established in 2013 as a key forum to promote trade, investment and economic ties between the UAE and India.The meeting will also be attended by Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Minister of Investment, MD and CEO of ADQ; Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade; Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE; and Ambassadors of both countriesThe two delegations will discuss issues and challenges pertaining to existing Investments,, made by UAE companies in India and investments of Indian companies in the UAE.
The meeting will also review the outcomes achieved through the work of the Joint Task Force to date, and the two sides will continue exploring ways to facilitate investment in areas of mutual interest with the potential for economic growth, the statement added.Goyal will also hold bilateral meetings with Khaldoon Al Mubarak, CEO and MD, Mubadala (sovereign investment fund of UAE), besides members of UAE-India Business Council, top business leaders from both countries, and major food importers from GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and Egypt.