PhonePe Launches UPI International Service In Five Countries

Fintech firm PhonePe Pvt. on Tuesday said its users will now be able to pay to international merchant outlets in five countries, including the U.A.E, Nepal and Singapore, using the Unified Payments Interface system.

PhonePe users will be able to make payments in the foreign currency directly from their Indian bank—just like they do with international debit cards, the company said in a statement.

"The current launch supports all international merchant outlets in the U.A.E, Singapore, Mauritius, Nepal and Bhutan that have a local QR code," the statement said, adding that PhonePe is the first fintech app to launch this feature in India.

The company has over 43.5-crore registered users.

Indian customers need to use a foreign currency, or their credit or forex cards to pay at international merchant outlets, but with 'UPI international' payments feature, PhonePe can now use their Indian Bank accounts to pay using UPI.

"UPI international is the first major step in letting the rest of the world experience UPI too. I am sure this launch will prove to be a game-changer and will completely transform the way Indians traveling overseas pay at merchant outlets abroad," PhonePe CTO and Co-Founder Rahul Chari said.

Over the course of this year, the National Payments Corp. of India, in collaboration with the NPCI International Payments Ltd., plans to roll out UPI International to more countries, while also enabling greater merchant acceptance in the regions where this feature is currently live.