Sri Lanka accepts India's UPI after France, boosting global acceptance of fast payments

Following France's lead, Sri Lanka has now accepted India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) technology, marking a significant step in the international acceptance of this innovative payment system.

The occasion took place during the meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe in the national capital.

UPI has gained immense popularity in India as a mobile-based fast payment system for retail digital transactions. Its success has spurred interest from countries around the world, and previously, France, UAE, and Singapore had already formed partnerships with India to explore emerging fintech and payment solutions.

The UPI system enables customers to conduct instant, round-the-clock payments using a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) they create themselves. This seamless process has attracted attention from various nations seeking to enhance their own payment infrastructure.

Earlier this year, India and Singapore entered into an agreement to link their payment systems, allowing users in both countries to engage in cross-border transactions.

This collaboration enabled real-time money transfers via QR-code based transactions or by entering mobile numbers associated with the relevant bank accounts.

Following this, France also joined the growing list of nations leveraging UPI for their payments. The famous Eiffel Tower became the starting point for this integration, further emphasizing the global appeal and recognition of India's UPI technology.

Moreover, an essential Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was exchanged between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank of the UAE.

This MoU will pave the way for integrating India's UPI with the Instant Payments Platform (IPP) of the UAE, facilitating seamless cross-border transactions between the two nations.