IndusInd Bank Partners with NPCI to Offer Cross-border Payments via UPI

IndusInd Bank said in a statement to Reuters on Monday that it has collaborated with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to deliver real-time cross-border remittances to India using UPI IDs for its Money Transfer Operator (MTO) partners.

Through this move, IndusInd Bank has become the first Indian bank to use UPI for cross-border payments and NRI remittances. The MTO’s will use the IndusInd Bank channel to interact with NPCI’s UPI payment systems for validation and cross-border payment settlement into beneficiary accounts under this arrangement, according to the release.

For Foreign Inward Remittance (FIR) via UPI, IndusInd Bank has started with Thailand.

DeeMoney is a Thailand-based financial solutions firm that specialises in money transfers and currency conversion. Customers that use the DeeMoney website can effortlessly transfer funds by simply entering the UPI ID of the beneficiary.

In the near future, IndusInd Bank wants to add more partners in various other countries for cross-border payments via UPI.

Speaking about the partnership, Mr. Soumitra Sen, Head – Consumer Banking & Marketing, IndusInd Bank said, “At IndusInd Bank, it’s been our constant endeavour to bring forth path breaking propositions that provide customers with a seamless banking experience. In keeping with this approach, we are proud to partner with NPCI to introduce the country’s first UPI-based cross border remittance facility, which enables NRIs to send money to a beneficiary in India using their UPI ID through our partner Exchange Houses, Banks and Money Transfer Operators. It’s a significant step towards simplifying remittances as a functionality, as individuals residing overseas will now be able to conveniently transfer money to a beneficiary by simply adding their UPI ids, without having to remember their bank account details. We believe, enabling foreign remittance through UPI is a major milestone towards strengthening its usage as a platform, and will go a long way in enhancing its adoption by NRIs across geographies.”

Ms. Praveena Rai, COO, NPCI said, “We are pleased to partner with IndusInd Bank. We believe this initiative will offer a much simpler and more efficient remittance experience for international travellers using UPI. We are confident that our association would act as one of the major contributing factors towards the evolution of cross-border payments through UPI. With UPI venturing into cross-border remittances, we are looking forward to witnessing significant growth in UPI’s transaction volumes in the years to come.”

This collaboration will allow IndusInd Bank’s partners to facilitate remittances from Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIOs) living all over the world to their Non-Resident External (NRE) and Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) accounts, as well as their families and relatives in India.