After PhonePe & Paytm, Now, Google Pay Joins Global UPI Service Bandwagon

Tech giant Google has joined the list of other payment aggregators – PhonePe and Paytm – to offer UPI services to its users travelling abroad.

Google is working with NPCI Payments International Limited (NPIL), a subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), to bring this service to fruition, Moneycontrol reported.

Users travelling abroad will be able to pay foreign merchants using Google Pay UPI and in the currency of the respective country. This eliminates the necessity for international cards, be it debit, credit, or forex.

The government is taking various initiatives to introduce cross-border real-time money transfers through UPI. 

At present, BHIM UPI QR codes can be used in Singapore, UAE, Mauritius, Nepal, and Bhutan.

Further, Google Pay (also known as GPay), will also be joining the list of apps and banks that would enable P2P remittances service via UPI, reducing dependence on conventional money transfer channels. As of now, this is available between India and Singapore.

In addition to Google Pay, users of BHIM, PhonePe, and Paytm apps can avail of this service. Furthermore, banks including Axis Bank, DBS Bank India, ICICI Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, and State Bank of India offer this functionality through their respective apps, with more expected to be added to the linkage soon.

Ritesh Shukla, CEO, NPCI International Payments Limited, told Moneycontrol, “We are also excited about enabling a seamless and more connected international remittance network by further expanding UPI’s cross-border interoperability feature.”

This comes at a time when the NPCI expanded the facility for Indians to receive money from Singapore instantly and securely using major UPI apps and those of popular banks.

It is estimated that the cross-border flow of money between India and Singapore crosses $1 Bn annually. 

With the rising adoption among merchants and users alike, the total value of UPI transactions surpassed the INR 18 Lakh Cr mark for the first time in December 2023. In comparison, the total value of UPI transactions stood at around INR 12.8 Lakh Cr in December 2022.

As per Inc42’s report, the number of UPI transactions surged almost 60% to a record 11,768 Cr in 2023 from 7,404.45 Cr in 2022. The total value of UPI transactions also zoomed over 40% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 182.84 Lakh Cr last year.

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