In a significant development in the fintech sector, France is reportedly considering the adoption of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to expedite digital transactions. This news comes ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to France, where the potential launch of UPI in the European nation is expected to be discussed.
The UPI system, a real-time payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation Of India (NPCI), has already been adopted by countries such as the UAE, Bhutan, and Nepal. If France follows suit, it would be the first European country to do so.
The anticipated arrangement between France’s Lyra, a fast and secure online payment system, and UPI was set in motion in 2022 when NPCI and Lyra signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The proposed collaboration is expected to be similar to the India-Singapore fast payment linkage established earlier this year. This agreement between India’s UPI and Singapore’s PayNow has enabled users in both countries to conduct seamless, real-time, and secure cross-border transactions.
According to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), UPI transactions accounted for about 73 percent of all non-cash transactions in India in 2022, amounting to Rs 139.2 trillion. A report by PwC predicts that daily transactions are likely to reach 1 billion by 2026–2027, accounting for about 90 percent of all non-cash transactions.
The NPCI is also reportedly in talks with other countries in the USA, Europe, and West Asia to extend UPI services, indicating a growing global interest in India’s digital payment infrastructure.
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