India and Singapore have integrated their UPI and PayNow payment systems

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong witnessed the launch of cross-border connectivity between India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Singapore’s PayNow via video conference.

The first transaction was launched by Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das along with Monetary Authority of Singapore CEO Ravi Menon.

India has become one of the fastest growing countries for innovation in the fintech sector.

New Delhi is driving the globalization of digital payment infrastructure and one of the government’s top priorities is to ensure that the benefits of the UPI interface are not limited to the country itself but also to other countries.

By combining the two payment systems, cross-border remittances can be processed quickly and cost-effectively, and will enable Indian expatriates, especially migrant workers and students, to make instant remittances from Singapore to India at low cost.

The payment link between India and Singapore is part of Asia’s trend towards instant cross-border financial transfers via mobile phones, bypassing bank branches and offering higher fees for specific operations.

Singapore launched a similar initiative with Thailand in 2021 and is working on a similar project with Malaysia.

Also, Singapore is the top recipient of remittances to India after the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

The Southeast Asian nation accounted for nearly 6.0 percent of India’s $89 billion income from individuals in the fiscal year ending March 2022.

Lam/APM