NIPL, Trinidad and Tobago ink agreement to develop UPI-like payments system

NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), on Friday partnered with the Ministry of Digital Transformation (MDT) of Trinidad and Tobago to develop a real-time payments platform similar to India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

The bilateral partnership will enable the Caribbean country to establish a real-time payments platform for both person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions, expanding digital payments in the country and fostering financial inclusion.

“By leveraging technology and experiences from India’s UPI, the partnership seeks to assist Trinidad and Tobago in modernising its financial ecosystem,” NIPL said in a statement.

The partnership follows a series of recent announcements NIPL has made regarding the global expansion of UPI and associated rails.

“Our experience with UPI in India has demonstrated how real-time payments can transform economies by improving access to essential financial services and reducing reliance on cash. We look forward to working closely with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Central Bank in Trinidad and Tobago,” said Ritesh Shukla, chief executive officer, NPCI International.

At present, UPI is accepted in countries such as Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the United Arab Emirates.

In June, NIPL inked an agreement with the central bank of Peru to develop a UPI-like payment system in the South American country.

In May this year, the payments body entered into an agreement with the Bank of Namibia (BoN) to develop an instant payment system similar to UPI in the African nation.

NIPL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NPCI.

It is tasked with deploying home-grown payments systems such as UPI and the RuPay card scheme overseas.