Explained: How Indians can now make payments using UPI in UAE

It will be mandatory for users to have a bank account in India with UPI enabled on it. The users will also need an application, like BHIM, to make UPI payments.

“With the acceptance of BHIM UPI in the UAE, Indian tourists can now make seamless payments through BHIM UPI across NEOPAY enabled shops and merchant stores. This partnership will play a key role in transforming the P2M payment experience for Indian travelers in the UAE. The implementation of BHIM UPI in the UAE is a stepping stone toward providing a major boost to digital payments in the country,” the NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) said in a statement.

Will UPI be accepted everywhere in the UAE?

No. Payments using UPI will only be accepted at those merchants and shops which have NEOPAY terminals.

Does NPCI have other such international arrangements?

Yes. NPCI’s international arm NIPL have several such arrangements with international financial services providers for its products, including UPI and RuPay cards. Globally, UPI is accepted in Bhutan and Nepal, and is likely to go live in Singapore later this year.

In Singapore, a project to link UPI with the city-state’s instant payment system PayNow is being undertaken by the RBI and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The linkage is targeted for operationalisation by July this year. Even though the UAE arrangement only allows for Indians to make payments, in Singapore’s case, the UPI-PayNow linkage will enable users of each of the two fast payment systems to make instant, low-cost fund transfers on a reciprocal basis without a need to get on-boarded onto the other payment system.

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