admin NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the global subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has partnered with Singapore-based payment infrastructure firm HitPay to expand the acceptance of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in Singapore. This collaboration marks the second significant UPI expansion in the country, following the UPI-PayNow linkage, which facilitates seamless remittances between India and Singapore.
Through this partnership, UPI will be progressively rolled out to over 12,000 merchants in Singapore, allowing Indian users to make both online and offline transactions. The initiative aims to enhance the travel experience of Indian visitors by providing them with a familiar and cost-effective payment method. According to Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NIPL, this step aligns with NPCI’s broader mission of expanding UPI’s global footprint and creating a connected payments ecosystem for Indians traveling abroad.
Global Expansion of UPI and Future Prospects
NIPL has been actively working to expand UPI acceptance beyond India. The HitPay partnership follows NIPL’s recent collaboration with UAE-based fintech firm Magnati, which enables QR-based UPI merchant payments through point-of-sale terminals across the UAE. Currently, UPI payments are accepted in seven countries, including Bhutan, Mauritius, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and France.
With more than 20 UPI-supported apps, including BHIM, PhonePe, Paytm, and Google Pay, international transactions are becoming more accessible. Beyond merchant transactions, NIPL is also working on international use cases such as peer-to-peer (P2P) and peer-to-merchant (P2M) payments, mirroring UPI’s domestic functionality.
Additionally, NIPL is collaborating with various countries, including the UAE and Mauritius, to help develop a RuPay-like card scheme. On a broader scale, NIPL is participating in initiatives like Project Nexus, under the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which aims to link instant payment systems across multiple countries, including India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
With these efforts, NIPL continues to position UPI as a global payment solution, making digital transactions more accessible for Indians abroad while fostering deeper economic and technological ties between India and other countries.
Magazine 
