PhonePe Rolls Out UPI Payments For Indian Travellers In Sri Lanka

Fintech major PhonePe has partnered with LankaPay to enable Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments for Indian users travelling to Sri Lanka. 

As part of the collaboration, PhonePe users will be able to make UPI payments by scanning QR codes at LankaPayQR merchants. In a statement, PhonePe said that these transactions will be facilitated by the UPI and the LankaPay National Payment Network.

The fintech major added that the user accounts will be debited in Indian rupees at existing exchange rates to ease the digital payment process. LankaPay claims to have more than 4 Lakh merchant partners across the island nation.

The new offering was launched during an event in Colombo which was attended by Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha and Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe.

Commenting on the partnership, CEO of PhonePe’s international payments arm Ritesh Pai said, “We are thrilled to announce our partnership with LankaPay. This collaboration offers unparalleled convenience to Indian tourists who can now use a familiar and secure payment method while travelling and pay across LankaQR merchant points. …”

Chiming in, LankaPay’s CEO Channa de Silva added, “LankaPay is delighted to collaborate with PhonePe to revolutionise the cross-border payments between Sri Lanka and India. This partnership is bound to provide greater convenience to Indian tourists and business travellers in making seamless UPI payments at all LankaQR merchant points in Sri Lanka via PhonePe app…”

The latest launch will help PhonePe bolster its footprint outside India and shore its customer-centric offerings. Addressing the gathering, Weerasinghe said that collaboration could potentially unlock new opportunities for Sri Lanka merchants and enhance competitiveness in the local fintech ecosystem.

This collaboration comes three months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out UPI services in the island country during a virtual ceremony in February this year. 

Last month, PhonePe also signed a two-year pact with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to enable UPI payments for Indian visitors in Singapore. At that time, the company said that Indian travellers to the country would be able to use the PhonePe app at 8,000+ merchants in Singapore.

The gradual expansion of UPI is part of the National payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) bid to internationalise the homegrown payments infrastructure. The payments body has so far signed pacts with multiple countries, including Nepal, France, and the UAE, to roll out UPI in their respective nations. 

That said, PhonePe continues to be the biggest player in the UPI ecosystem, accounting for nearly half of the total transactions processed on the network in April 2024. Overall, UPI clocked more than 1,330 Cr transactions worth INR 19.64 Lakh Cr in April this year.