NPCI launches international arm, NIPL for adoption of UPI, RuPay Card in other countries

[Abhishek012]

NPCI launches international arm, NIPL for adoption of UPI, RuPay Card in other countries​

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched its international arm— NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) — to expand real-time payment system Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and card payment network RuPay Card in other countries.

NPCI began its journey way back in 2008 with one product and today it has various innovative and unique digital payment products in its portfolio. Today, NPCI has touched every layer of the society with one or the other products and doing exponentially well in domestic market. NPCI’s visionary management had foreseen this growth and identified need to expand its wings outside of India. It started with setting up of vision of ‘becoming best global payment network’, NPCI successfully established partnerships with Discover Financial Services (DFS) USA, Japan Credit Bureau (JCB) Japan, Union Pay International (UPI) China, Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) of Bhutan and Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS), Singapore.

“NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) is tasked with the responsibility of exporting NPCI’s indigenously developed offerings and technological acumen to foreign markets, thereby revolutionizing the global payments landscape. The primary focus of NIPL would be internationalization of RuPay Card and UPI, along with a few more offerings of NPCI," an official statement said.

UPI and RuPay have already marked its presence in Singapore and UAE. UPI The growing popularity of UPI can be attributed to its simple, safe, cost-effective and mobile-based payment system. RuPay Card were launched six years ago to promote the use of electronic payments as well as to expand the idea of financial inclusion. The Prime Minister’s flagship scheme for financial inclusion—Jan Dhan Yojana—gave impetus to the payment scheme as RuPay debit cards were issued to every account opened under the scheme. However, one of the major limitations of RuPay card is its limited international presence.

“NPCI has achieved the pinnacle of success at developing an exemplary robust payments system that is cost effective, secure, convenient and instantaneous. Several nations have displayed an inclination towards establishing a ‘real time payment system’ or ‘domestic card scheme’ inspired by the exemplary innovations by NPCI in the country," the statement said.

NIPL is building huge acceptance network for RuPay and UPI which will help Indian travelers pay with these payment channels in destination country of travel. With the evolution and growth of NIPL network, any Indian travelling to any country across the globe will be able to use our products.

NIPL is focused on transforming payments across the globe with use of technology and innovation. It will not only enable payment for Indians but also uplift other countries by enhancing their payment capabilities through technological assistance, consulting and infrastructure. These countries have potentials but lack in resources i.e. financial, technological etc. NIPL is ready to fill this gap with its rich experience and advance understanding of payments.

NIPL will be headed by Ritesh Shukla as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Shukla has over two decades of experience in banking and payments space and was a part of Mastercard’s business in Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

“We are glad to launch our subsidiary – NIPL to take our unique payment system to global markets. It is also a matter of pride for NPCI that several countries such as Asia, Africa and the Middle East have displayed interest towards replicating our model in their own nations," Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NPCI Dilip Asbe said.

NPCI had also poured in the authorised capital of Rs 50 crore in its international subsidiary in May this year, shows separate regulatory filings. The firm has been in advanced conversation with a few banks and financial entities to test a UPI kind of infrastructure in UAE and Southeast Asian countries.