Launch of UPI in France
Source: Times of India
GS II: Internation Relation; GS III: Indian Economy
Overview
- News in Brief
- Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
Why in the News?
India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) service is now officially available at Eiffel Tower in Parsi France.
News in Brief
- NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) in partnership with Lyra has announced the acceptance of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payment mechanism in France starting with the iconic Eiffel Tower.
- Indian tourists can now book their visit to the Eiffel Tower by purchasing tickets online using UPI — making the transaction process quick, easy, and hassle-free.
- The official announcement was made in Paris at an event organized by the Indian Embassy in France to celebrate the Republic Day of India.
Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
- Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a real-time payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to facilitate instant fund transfers between bank accounts using a mobile platform.
- It enables users to link multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application and make transfers using either the account number or a virtual payment address (VPA), which acts as a unique identifier.
- UPI has gained significant popularity in India due to its convenience, security, and interoperability across different banks and payment service providers.
- It has revolutionized digital payments in the country, enabling seamless transactions for various purposes such as peer-to-peer transfers, bill payments, merchant transactions, and more.
In 2023, UPI and Singapore’s PayNow signed an agreement, allowing users in either country to make cross-border transactions.
To enable cross-border transactions, the NIPL and Al Etihad Payments of UAE inked a Memorandum of Understanding in 2023.
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