SUMMARY
Under the pact, the two sides will manage fund settlement, reconciliation, and dispute resolutions in their respective jurisdictions
The partnership will enable the Indian diaspora living in Greece to easily make cross-border payments to India via UPI rails
Besides Greece, countries such as Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bhutan, Nepal, the UAE, and Canada have already adopted the UPI system in their countries
The international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Greece-based Eurobank to facilitate cross-border payments to India via UPI.
In a statement, the Indian payments body said that the agreement will specifically focus on streamlining foreign inward remittances from Greece to India.
The MoU was signed during an event at the Embassy of Greece in New Delhi. It was attended by NIPL chief executive officer (CEO) Ritesh Shukla, Eurobank CEO Fokion Karavias, and other Greek leaders.
Under the pact, the two sides will serve as each other’s point of contact for enabling remittances to India. They will also manage fund settlement, reconciliation, and dispute resolutions in their respective jurisdictions.
The partnership will enable the Indian diaspora living in Greece to easily make cross-border payments to India via UPI rails.
“This strategic alliance with Eurobank marks a significant milestone in the expansion of payment technologies built in India beyond our borders… Moreover, it underscores our commitment to innovation and customer-centric solutions, setting a new standard for international payment systems and reinforcing our vision for a more connected and financially inclusive world,” said NIPL’s Shukla.
Chiming in, Eurobank’s Karavias said, “We are excited about the prospect of cooperating with NPCI International to leverage its pioneering UPI technology in payments from Greece to India…”
With this, Greece has become one of the first European countries to enable remittances to India using UPI rails. The development comes weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out UPI in France.
In February last year, the cross-border linkage between UPI and Singapore’s PayNow was also completed to enable the users of the two countries to make cross-border payments.
It is pertinent to note that countries such as Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bhutan, Nepal, the UAE, and Canada have also deployed UPI in their respective countries.
Earlier, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that India has already signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with around 30 countries across the globe for deploying the UPI stack.
Incorporated in 2020, the NIPL is devoted to the deployment of the NPCI’s indigenous offerings, UPI, and card network RuPay outside India.
