Non-Resident Indians (NRI) will soon be able to make payments in Unified Payments Interface (UPI) without getting an Indian mobile number.
India’s National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payments systems, that facilitates services like UPI Payment, Bharat Bill Pay, and RuPay Card said in a statement:
“We have been receiving requirement from the (UPI) ecosystem with regards to the non-resident accounts and other permissible accounts having international numbers to be allowed to transact in UPI.”
NPCI says NRE/NRO accounts from the following ten select countries, including, can access UPI using their international mobile numbers.
An NRE account helps NRIs transfer foreign earnings to India, while an NRO account helps them manage the income earned in India.
For the uninitiated, UPI payment systems have revolutionized transactions and obviated the need to carry hard cash in most cases. UPI has been done by simply allowing a UPI user to simply scan a QR code and transfer the desired amount directly to the vendor’s bank account. In fact, from roadside vendors to retail chains, UPI has now become common in India.
Further, Nepal, Bhutan, and Singapore have signed deals with NPCI to integrate their payment networks with UPI.
A cabinet committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today approved a ₹ 2,600 crore scheme for promoting RuPay debit cards and low-value BHIM-UPI transactions.
PM Modi has also lauded fellow Indians for embracing digital payments as India reached a milestone of 782 Crore UPI Transactions worth ₹12.8 Lakh Crore in Dec 2022.
Indians living abroad comprise the world’s largest overseas diaspora and their remittances amounted to around $100 billion in 2022.
All 382 member banks of NPCI have now been asked to ensure that all non-resident account types are onboarded by 30 April 2023.