UPI, Rupay cards brace for European entry 

NPCI to release digital payment services in France soon 

HIGHLIGHTS 

• National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) global arm has signed a memorandum of understanding MoU with Lyra Network of France for the acceptance of UPI and Rupay in the united states. 
• Countries like Singapore, UAE, Bhutan, and Nepal have followed India’s UPI payment system so far. 

In a very major push for the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Rupay cards, the Union Communication minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced that UPI and Rupay card services will be available in France soon. 

According to the ANI news agency, the National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) international arm has signed a memorandum of understanding MoU with Lyra Network of France for acceptance of UPI and Rupay in the country. “The whole world is watching that India is doing 5.5 billion UPI transactions in a month. This is a huge success for India. Today’s MoU with France is a massive step towards the world,” Vaishnaw stated. 

Countries like Singapore, UAE, Bhutan, and Nepal have followed India’s UPI payment system so far. The NPCI international is in talks to increase the UPI services in the US, European countries, and West Asia. With the MoU between NPCI International and Lyra Network, Indian travellers will be capable of making seamless payments in the course of their journey to France. 

Indian diplomat in France Jawed Ashraf mentioned an experience with the seamless and transparent mode of virtual payment and how effective it may be in France. The Ambassador stated that after he went to a health practitioner but did not have the cash or cheque to pay. “The health practitioner requested him to pay in cash or by cheque. He has to go to an ATM to withdraw the cash and pay the health practitioner. If UPI comes to France, then it’ll advantage the people of France. If we share the advantages of UPI with the people of France, then they’ll accept it,” he stated. 

Meanwhile, Europe’s largest start-up conference – Vivatech 2020 has recognized India as the “country of the year.” “This is an outstanding honour for India to be identified as the country of the year for Vivatech 2020. This is because of the contribution of the Indian start-u.s.to the world. This is the popularity of Indian start-ups. We have embarked on this thrilling journey,” stated Vaishnaw. 

While inaugurating the India pavilion at the technology exhibition Vivatech, Vaishnaw stated that the combination of billions of smartphones and billions of bank accounts with billion-plus virtual identities in permitting the creation of specific use cases for technology improvement in India. 
“Today, in case you examine most of the government programs, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, many of the government programs are nowadays born digital. The UPI is a completely classic example. The subsequent instance which is going to come which may be as huge as UPI or perhaps even larger is going to be the health mission,” Vaishnaw stated.