India's UPI Goes International, Linked With Singapore's PayNow To Offer Seamless Cross-Border Payments Connectivity

In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, India and Singapore on Tuesday (21 February) launched the cross-border connectivity between two of their most popular payment systems, UPI and PayNow.

The virtual launch function was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong.

RBI governor Shaktikanta Das and Ravi Menon, managing director of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched the linkage of the two payments systems by making live cross-border transactions to each other using their respective mobile phones.

UPI, or Unified Payments Interface, is a real-time payment system developed by NPCI that allows users to instantly transfer money between bank accounts using a mobile device. PayNow is a similar system developed by MAS for users in Singapore.

The linkage of these two payment systems would enable residents of both countries in faster and cost-efficient  transfer of cross-border remittances.

Singapore is the first country with which cross border Person to Person (P2P) payment facility has been launched, the PMO said in a release.

It added that the linkage of UPI and PayNow will help the Indian diaspora in Singapore, especially migrant workers and students and bring the benefits of digitalisation and fintech to the common man through instantaneous and low-cost transfer of money from Singapore to India and vice-versa.

Acceptance of UPI payments through QR codes is already available in selected merchant outlets in Singapore, it said.

On the occasion, PM Modi said that the launch of the UPI-PayNow linkage (between India and Singapore) is a gift to the citizens of the two countries, which they were waiting for eagerly.

He added that the launch of UPI-PayNow linkage has started a new chapter of cross-border Fintech connectivity.