NIPL Partners NTT Data To Expand UPI To Japan

SUMMARY

The homegrown digital payments network will only be rolled out for Indian tourists making payments at merchants, which use NTT Data’s offerings

As part of the partnership, the two entities will also jointly examine other opportunities for the “enablement” of UPI in Japan

Monthly UPI transactions dipped 2.5% to 1,960 Cr in September after touching an all-time high of 2,010 Cr in August amid the fallout of the ban on online real money gaming

Continuing its international expansion spree, NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) has now signed a pact with Japanese IT major NTT Data to enable UPI payments in the East Asian archipelago.

In a statement, NTT said that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) will act as the foundation to enable acceptance of UPI for Indian tourists in Japan. In essence, the homegrown digital payments network will only be rolled out for Indian tourists making payments at merchants, which use NTT Data’s offerings.

As part of the partnership, the two entities will also jointly examine other opportunities for the “enablement” of UPI in Japan.

“This partnership is an important step toward improving the digital payment experience for Indian travellers and simplifying cross-border payments. It also reflects our ambition to take UPI to more international markets and establish it as one of the most trusted digital payment systems globally,” said NIPL’s managing director and CEO Ritesh Shukla.

The initiation of UPI partnership in Japan is representative of NIPL’s ongoing global expansion and its first launch in East Asia, NTT Data said in a statement.

With the addition of Japan, NIPL has now expanded UPI acceptance to 20 international partners spanning nine countries, including Singapore, France, Nepal, Peru, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, among others.

On the domestic front, NIPL parent and nodal payments body National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) recently unveiled a plethora of UPI-led innovations and product launches during the global fintech festival (GFF) 2025.

Some of the key launches included the pilot launch of agentic AI payments, Reserve Pay, Banking Connect, on-device biometric authentication for UPI, IoT-enabled payments, among others.

Meanwhile, monthly UPI transactions in India dipped 2.5% to 1,960 Cr in September after touching an all-time high of 2,010 Cr in August. Still, the number of transactions surged 31% year-on-year (YoY) from 1,500 Cr transactions recorded in September 2024.