Currently, customers from India pay through international card networks. However, the hugely popular United Payments Interface from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) allows multiple bank accounts to be accessed through one single mobile application.

Facilitated via Worldline QR, the company’s universal product for the acceptance of all QR-based payments, the first target markets for NIPL are set to include Benelux and Switzerland with further plans for expansion, as Worldline QR is rolled out in more European countries.

India is one of the most important tourist markets for Europe with an estimated 10 million Indians travelling to the region each year prior to the pandemic.

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Marc-Henri Desportes, Deputy CEO of Worldline, says of the initiative: “Our analyses of international customers’ payment behaviour have indicated a push away from international card schemes in recent times, and a preference for any mobile payment method they are acquainted. Our partnership with NPCI International seeks to mitigate the risk of excluding or limiting Indian customers from safely using electronic payments in the EU.”

In 2021, NPCI’s UPI recorded 38.74 billion transactions, worth $954.58 billion, making it the best performing real-time payment eco-system in the world. Similarly, 714 million RuPay cards have been issued to date, clocking over 1.3 billion transactions.

Mr. Ritesh Shukla, CEO, NIPL says: “The roll-out of acceptance of UPI-powered Apps and RuPay Cards across Europe is important to us, as we expect increased mobility of Indians in the continent in the coming years. We believe this partnership will empower Indian consumers to continue using their preferred payment modes as they travel across Europe.”