Earlier, NRIs needed a valid Indian mobile number to set up a UPI ID for any application. However, with the Indian government’s efforts to make UPI accessible globally, NRIs can now use their international mobile numbers for UPI if they have NRE or NRO bank accounts. NRIs with mobile numbers from countries like Singapore, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, the US, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom can use UPI without an Indian mobile number. This eliminates the cost of maintaining an Indian mobile number and allows them to use UPI seamlessly with their international numbers.
NRIs can use their international mobile numbers to activate UPI by linking them to their NRE or NRO accounts. The NRE or NRO accounts should be KYC compliant, and compliance with regulations and guidelines set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the responsibility of the respective banks. Banks must ensure adherence to FEMA regulations, conduct necessary anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) checks, and validate compliance with regulatory guidelines at the remitter/beneficiary bank level.
Akash Sinha, CEO and Co-Founder of Cashfree Payments, said, “One of the major advantages for NRIs is the convenience of making payments and money transfers when they visit India. With UPI, they can easily pay millions of Indian merchants without the need for their expensive international cards. Furthermore, when UPI expands to merchants in the NRIs’ country of residence, they can also enjoy the convenience of making instant transfers. To utilise UPI, NRIs need to link their NRE and NRO accounts to their international SIM and use it like any other Indian UPI user. This enables them to make seamless merchant payments and peer-to-peer transfers. This development will contribute to the wider adoption and recognition of Indian payments technology on a global scale, positioning UPI as a prominent international payment and money transfer network.”
Also read:Find out how Indians can make UPI payments abroad
NRIs will have all the present use cases of UPI, including retail as well as wholesale transactions. There are no charges applicable for UPI transactions. “NPCI now has tie-ups with multiple countries including Australia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the US, Qatar, Hong Kong, the UK, Canada, Oman, and now France. Further in a recent development, users will be able to make transactions in France as an MoU was signed in 2022 between NPCI and their payment system—Lyra. During the beginning of this year, there was an agreement signed between India’s UPI and Singapore’s Paynow to make cross-border transactions for a more secure, easier and seamless experience for the users. NPCI is also making efforts to extend UPI services by talking to different countries in Europe, the USA and West Asia,” said Sinha.
Money transfer process: Funds stored in bank accounts or e-wallets can be easily transferred to and from India using UPI-id, mobile number, or Virtual Payment Address (VPA), similar to domestic UPI transactions in India.
“The transfer of money to international numbers using UPI can be understood with an example of the corresponding arrangement with BHIM UPI in Singapore. The underlying QR code-based system would allow anyone with a BHIM UPI app to scan the Singapore Quick Response Code (SGQR) at NETS terminals in Singapore for payments. SGQR is a single QR code combining multiple e-payment solutions into one, intended to simplify QR e-payments in Singapore for consumers and merchants," said Sinha.
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In the case of SQQR stickers, users/customers will need to key in the purchase amount in SGD, and the BHIM app will automatically convert the amount to INR. Once the ‘Pay’ option is chosen, the BHIM app prompts the consumer to enter their UPI PIN to complete the transaction.
Also, for dynamic NETS QR, the BHIM app will display both the transfer amount in SGD and the converted amount in INR, post which users/customers can enter UPI PIN to process the transaction.
Sinha said, “State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank and ICICI Bank will initially facilitate inward and outward remittances, while Axis Bank and DBS India will facilitate inward remittances. The service would be available for Singapore users through DBS-Singapore and Liquid Group (a non-bank financial institution). More banks will be incorporated in the linkage over time.”
NRIs will be able to transact using UPI, irrespective of whether they are in India or abroad. Given the scale of UPI merchant infrastructure in India, it would be more useful when account holders visit India. While abroad, they can use UPI to transfer funds to families in India and use it on e-commerce portals that allow such payments.
