India looks to take UPI to Saudi, Bahrain, other Gulf countries

India is in talks with Gulf countries, including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, to expand its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) service, people aware of the matter said. While the discussions are in the early stages, many countries have shown interest in advancing the talks, the people said.

- Shashank Mattoo & Gulveen Aulakh

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is spearheading the talks with Gulf countries to establish bank-to-bank transfer systems for cross-border remittances, given that millions of Indians reside and work in the region.

“NPCI is in initial discussions with a few Gulf countries for developing cross-border remittances using UPI, which will be primarily bank account-to-bank account transfers. The discussions have been facilitated by the Reserve Bank of India and other-country central bank collaboration, and by our Indian mission offices," said Dilip Asbe, managing director and chief executive, NPCI.