Several Indian tourists coming to the UAE will now be able to make payments across the country using the instant payment system from their home country. They will be able to use the QR-based Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to make payments at over 60,000 merchants across various sectors including retail, hospitality, transport, and supermarkets.
UPI acceptance will also soon be rolled out to cover a wide range of establishments from retail stores and dining outlets, as well as tourist and leisure attractions including Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates.
This comes after digital commerce firm Network International (Network) partnered with NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL) to roll out the payment system across the country.
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UPI is India’s largest instant payments system with over 350 million active users. In May 2024 alone, it processed 14.04 billion transactions. By enabling UPI acceptance through its point of sales (POS) terminals, Network will provide a QR-based safe and secure method for facilitating cross-border payments. This will allow Indian tourists and NRIs with Indian bank accounts to use UPI for payments across Network’s 200,000 terminals in the UAE.
Earlier this year, a partnership with Dubai-based Mashreq Bank made it possible for Indian citizens to use the UPI-powered PhonePe app across Mashreq’s NEOPAY Terminals across retail stores, dining outlets, as well as tourist and leisure attractions.
The announcement came at an event held in Dubai in the presence of Satish Kumar Sivan, Consul General of India to the UAE and senior representatives from both companies.
Milestone move
The collaboration between Network and NIPL, the international arm of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), is in line with the UAE’s vision to strengthen its position as one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations and a global hub for commerce and businesses.
The number of Indian tourists travelling to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is projected to reach 9.8 million in 2024, with the UAE anticipating 5.29 million visitors from India.
According to Nandan Mer, Group CEO of Network the best part about “enabling customers to pay in their preferred method” is that it takes the ecosystem closer to “the vision of a digital UAE.” Jamal Al Nassai from Network said the partnership was “a milestone” for their extensive network as they stand “to benefit immensely from the new payment method.”
Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NPCI International, stated, “Our partnership with Network International will deepen UPI’s presence in the UAE. By growing UPI payment acceptance across merchants in the UAE, we are not only providing Indian travellers with a seamless and familiar payment experience, but also promoting the use of innovative digital payment solutions internationally.”
