Now, NPCI Expands UPI to Cambodia Through Partnership With ACLEDA Bank

UPI Gets Faster As NPCI’s New Mandates Kick In

SUMMARY

NIPL and ACLEDA bank will work together to enable UPI acceptance across Cambodia and its national QR network, Bakong (KHQR) acceptance across India

The collaboration is aimed at offering Indian and Cambodian travelers the convenience of making QR code-based payments across tourist attractions and restaurants.

UPI is currently active in 13 countries, and the NPCI is in talks with another 7-8 nations in the Middle East and East Asia for UPI adoption

Adding on to UPI’s international expansion, the international arm of the NPCI, NIPL, has now partnered with Cambodia’s ACLEDA Bank Plc to introduce UPI in Cambodia. Besides, the partnership will also see the introduction of Cambodia’s national QR network, Bakong (KHQR) across India.

KHQR is a unified QR code standard in Cambodia that enables retailers to accept payments from any participating bank or e-wallet with a single QR code.

With this partnership, Indian tourists in Cambodia will be able to use their UPI enabled apps to make merchant payments easily at more than 4.5 Mn KHQR merchant touch points. Similarly, Cambodian tourists in India will be able to scan more than 709 Mn UPI QRs to make merchant payments using their Cambodian payment apps.

This will further offer businesses in both countries a secure and interoperable payment experience, enhancing convenience for consumers in both markets.

“We are excited to sign this service agreement with NPCI International Payments Limited. The service agreement formalizes the technical and operational framework for interconnecting NPCI’s UPI (Unified Payments Interface) network with ACLEDA Bank’s KHQR ecosystem,” ACLEDA Bank’s managing director Dr In Channy said.

This adds on to NIPL’s aggressive expansion of UPI’s global footprint by forging cross-border payment partnerships with central banks, payment processors and fintech operators worldwide.

Over the past two years, UPI has been linked or is in the process of being integrated with payment networks in countries including Singapore (PayNow), UAE, France, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Nepal.

Most recently, the RBI and NIPL entered the “realisation phase” of linking UPI with the TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) system run by the European Central Bank.

NPCI is also enabling QR-based merchant acceptance and remittance corridors to make UPI payments interoperable for Indians travelling abroad and for inward remittances. This strategy is aimed at positioning UPI as a low-cost, real-time global payments infrastructure and strengthening India’s influence in the cross-border digital payments ecosystem.

As of 2025, UPI is live in seven countries outside India, including United Arab Emirates, Nepal, Bhutan, Singapore, Mauritius, France and Sri Lanka. Besides, NPCI has also publicly announced plans to expand to 4-6 more countries during 2025, targeting full fledged UPI launch in countries like Japan and Qatar soon.

On the domestic front,India recorded 20.47 Bn UPI transactions in November worth INR 26.32 Lakh Cr, as per NPCI’s data. On a year-on-year basis, the transaction count increased 32% during the month under review.

The average daily transaction count rose to 682 Mn in November with average daily transaction value stood at INR 87,721 Cr.