NPCI global arm ties up with Mashreq Bank for UPI payments in UAE

NPCI's global arm NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) has partnered with UAE-based Mashreq Bank to provide its mobile-based real-time payment system UPI in the gulf nation.

This strategic partnership will be a significant game-changer in the digital payment ecosystem in the UAE, a release said on Friday.

With this tie-up, more than 2 million (20 lakh) Indians travelling to the UAE are expected to benefit from Unified Payments Interface (UPI) enabled mobile applications to pay for their purchases in a shop or merchant establishment across the country.

Developed by National Payments Corporation of India, UPI facilitates inter-bank transactions.

Mashreq said the tie-up is very timely with growing appetite for mobile-based payments and the bank has witnessed 20 per cent month-on-month growth in pick-up rate.

The implementation of UPI also opens a whole new world of opportunities for enterprises in the UAE and allows them to compete with much larger retailers, it said.

The partnership with Mashreq Bank will enable consumers from India to transact seamlessly using NPCI's world-renowned UPI platform and deliver a seamless user experience, said Ritesh Shukla, Chief Executive Officer, NIPL.

UPI is one of the most successful real-time payments technology globally that offers secure and simple person to person (P2P) and person to merchant (P2M) transactions.

In 2020, UPI allowed transactions worth USD 457 billion, which is equivalent to approximately 15 per cent of India's GDP.