NPCI Partners Magnati To Expand UPI Play In UAE

The National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) international arm, NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) has partnered with Middle East-based payment solution provider Magnati to expand  QR based Unified Payments Interface (UPI) merchant payments in the UAE.

The collaboration aims to expand the QR based merchant payment network in the UAE by enabling more merchants to provide UPI as a payment method to Indian travellers.

With this partnership, NIPL can provide seamless payment options to more than 12 Mn Indians travelling to Dubai and the UAE annually.

“The partnership with Magnati is a strategic step towards expanding UPI acceptance in the UAE. It offers Indian travellers a seamless and familiar payment experience at premier destinations like Dubai Duty-Free,” said Ritesh Shukla, chief executive officer at NPCI International.

The developments come at a time when UPI transactions continue to scale. The number of UPI transactions jumped 37% year-on-year to 15.48 Bn in November. 

Meanwhile, the regulatory push to further expand UPI transactions continues unabated. While India is in talks with a number of countries to expand UPI payments, the central bank has also been taking a number of steps to give further impetus to the digital payments ecosystem.

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed fully KYC-compliant prepaid wallets to make UPI payments through third-party apps.

In September last year, NPCI India was reportedly in discussions with countries in Africa and South America to help them build digital payment systems akin to its UPI.  

Prior to that, India and Maldives  inked a pact to roll out Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in the Indian Ocean archipelago as external affairs minister S Jaishankar said that the move will have a positive impact on the tourism sector.

On the same lines in July, NPCI international arm, NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), forayed into Qatar after partnering with Qatar National Bank (QNB).