Japan set to trial India's UPI as Indian tourist numbers see sharp rise

Japan will trial India's UPI in 2026, allowing Indian tourists to make QR code payments directly from their Indian bank accounts while travelling

India’s homegrown digital payments system, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), is set to make its way to Japan, Nikkei Asia reported. The move comes as Japan looks to make payments easier for the rising number of Indian tourists by allowing them to pay through familiar QR-based systems linked to their Indian bank accounts.

 

Launched in 2016 as a government-backed initiative, the system allows users with Indian bank accounts to transfer money instantly using mobile apps, usually at no cost. One of its biggest advantages is interoperability -- any UPI app can scan a single QR code to make payments.

 

Japan trial planned for 2026

 

Japanese IT services firm NTT Data is working with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to enable UPI payments in Japan on a trial basis during the financial year 2026. The partnership is exploring ways to link Indian and Japanese payment systems, the news report said.

 

 

Once implemented, Indian tourists in Japan will be able to pay using UPI, with the money being directly debited from their bank accounts in India.

 

NTT Data already provides payment terminals and processing services to businesses across India and Southeast Asia. Around 6 million stores in India, including e-commerce platforms, use its services. In Japan, the company plans to promote UPI adoption among local merchants.

 

The key aim behind the Japan rollout is to capture spending by Indian tourists, whose numbers are rising steadily.   

 

Indian tourist numbers rise

 

Japan welcomed 315,100 visitors from India in 2025, a 35 per cent increase compared to 2024, the news report said citing data from the Japan National Tourism Organisation.

 

This trend reflects a broader rise in overseas travel by Indians. Consulting firm McKinsey has projected that outbound trips from India could grow from 13 million in 2022 to 90 million by 2040, driven by higher incomes and a growing middle class.

 

UPI is not alone in expanding cross-border QR-based payments. China’s Ant Group is rolling out Alipay+, which allows a single QR code to work with multiple payment apps at partner merchants in over 100 countries and regions.

 

UPI dominates payments at home

 

UPI’s success in India is largely due to its design as a shared public platform. Banks and fintech firms built their own apps on a common standard, rather than competing systems.

 

UPI accounted for 58 per cent of in-store payments in India in 2024 and is expected to rise to 76 per cent by 2030, according to US payments firm Worldpay. Over the same period, cash usage is forecast to fall from 15 per cent to 7 per cent.

 

Transaction volumes are also surging. UPI transactions rose 42 per cent in the financial year 2024 to 185.8 billion, data from NPCI shows.

 

In 2023, nearly half -- 49 per cent -- of all instant payment transactions worldwide were processed through UPI, the news report said, citing a US-based payments app company. A June 2025 report by the International Monetary Fund described UPI as the "world's largest real-time payment system".

 

Exporting India’s payment model

 

Beyond Japan, NPCI is helping countries such as Peru and Namibia build their own digital payment infrastructure using UPI technology.

 

Since its first overseas launch in Bhutan in 2021, UPI has expanded to eight countries, including Singapore, France, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates, with Japan now next in line.