NPCI targets 15-20 global markets for UPI expansion

IMAGE: Dilip Asbe, CEO of the National Payments Corporation of India
| Photo Credit:
PAUL NORONHA

The manager of India’s widespread mobile payment network intends to leverage the nation’s extensive overseas diaspora as a launchpad for worldwide growth, seeking to position the service as a favored method for sending money across borders.

“Can we reach 15‑20 markets within the next decade? That sounds like a strategic go‑to‑market plan,” remarked Dilip Asbe, CEO of the National Payments Corporation of India, creator of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). “Just as India has achieved self‑reliance in domestic payments, we aim for similar independence in cross‑border transactions.”

NPCI is holding discussions with Japan, Malaysia, Bahrain and several other nations, Asbe noted, adding that the final approval rests with those countries’ governments and central banks because of geopolitical and regulatory considerations. He also mentioned that NPCI is investigating the use of agent‑based AI to facilitate payments via platforms such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Alphabet’s Gemini.

According to the International Monetary Fund, UPI stands as the globe’s largest real‑time payment system by transaction volume. It has reshaped everyday payments in India by letting users move money instantly between bank accounts via a smartphone, often sidestepping traditional card networks.

Targeting India’s global diaspora

NPCI hopes to mirror its domestic success abroad by connecting UPI with foreign payment processors, beginning with nations that host large Indian communities and drive the highest remittance flows worldwide.

Services like Google Pay and PhonePe rely on UPI to handle transactions in India, whereas Apple Pay has not yet been introduced for domestic payments.

The initiative targets India’s diaspora of roughly 35 million people, which remitted more than $155 billion home in the fiscal year ending March—the largest inflow anywhere. Overseas Indians have also bolstered the nation’s foreign‑exchange reserves during volatile periods through special deposit schemes.

“The diaspora will keep growing, travel will rise, and trade will expand,” Asbe said.

UPI’s business model evolves

The overseas push coincides with UPI’s evolving business model at home. India’s lower house of Parliament on Thursday passed legislation permitting banks and other payment providers to impose fees on UPI transactions. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated in a post on X that NPCI has not yet settled on any charges, and an NPCI spokesperson declined to comment.

The expansion will build on UPI’s existing footprint in nine countries, including Singapore, France and the United Arab Emirates, Asbe added. UPI presently enables person‑to‑person remittances to Singapore and Nepal, while inbound remittances are supported from Greece.

Building payment infrastructure overseas

Founded by the Reserve Bank of India and a consortium of banks, NPCI manages the nation’s retail payments infrastructure. In addition to UPI, it operates the RuPay card network, a home‑grown alternative to Visa and Mastercard. NPCI is also sharing the technology as a public good with developing nations such as Namibia, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago to help them establish and run comparable systems.

The drive emerges as countries pursue greater autonomy over their payment networks after Western sanctions severed Russia from the SWIFT financial messaging system and immobilized much of its foreign‑exchange reserves.

“No government wants to rely excessively on a single entity for essential services like payment processing,” Asbe observed. “The weaponization of payment systems has already been demonstrated.”

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Published on August 10, 2026