Several countries have expressed their intent to adopt homegrown Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and India will provide the technical know-how, software and handholding support to these countries, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) MD & CEO Dilip Asbe said on Monday.
“We have received the intent from several countries. We are in the process of working out the details. We will provide the technical know-how, software etc. It might take another 12 months to sign up. The objective is whether we can look at a million dollar implementation in a smaller country,” Asbe said while speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the G20 meet here.
According to Asbe, UPI can reach the milestone of a “billion transactions” a day in the next two-three years from a peak of around 280 million transactions at present. “Smaller countries, where cost of development and implementation of a digital payments platform is a concern, can be supported by NPCI through handholding and training going forward,” he pointed out. The G20 meeting commenced in Kolkata on Monday. Delegates from member countries assembled for a three-day session here.
Also read: Central Govt likely to make adjustments in the textile sector’s duty structure
Speaking on the sidelines of the meet, a senior official of the Monetary Authority of Singapore indicated that the integration of UPI and an equivalent network in Singapore called PayNow is expected to start soon. The integration of India’s UPI and Singapore’s PayNow has the potential to bring down remittance cost by 10%.
Monetary Authority of Singapore’s chief fintech officer Sopnendu Mohanty said once established, the interoperability of the two digital payments network can aid a multi-fold growth in remittances between the two countries.
Dubai is another country where opportunities are being explored by NPCI for cross border remittances, according to officials present at the G20 meeting.
Also read: Amul MD RS Sodhi ousted with immediate effect; Jayen Mehta takes interim charge
The first G20 meeting for global partnership for financial inclusion in the city is focussing on reducing remittance costs. At present, the remittance cost for workers employed outside India stands at around 6% of the total value of remittances. The aim is to bring the cost of remittances down to an average of 3% by 2027.
India assumed the presidency of the G20 at its annual summit in Bali in November last year with a promise of striving to ensure that the group acts as a global prime mover to envision new ideas and accelerate collective action to deal with pressing challenges.