Big Boost For India's UPI; Now Sri Lanka To Use Payment Interface After France

New Delhi: India and Sri Lanka struck a ground-breaking agreement today, July 21, 2023, during Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe's state visit to India. The deal permits Indian tourists to utilise India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for transactions in rupees.

With the successful launch of UPI in Sri Lanka, this cooperation represents a key turning point because it introduces the well-known mobile-based payment system to the neighbouring country for the first time. Indian travellers visiting Sri Lanka would no longer need to carry foreign currency after the revolutionary change announced today.

Addressing the delegation-level talks with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in Delhi today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "The agreement signed to launch UPI in Sri Lanka, will increase Fintech connectivity".

#WATCH | "The Agreement signed to launch UPI in Sri Lanka, will increase Fintech connectivity," says Prime Minister Narendra Modi. pic.twitter.com/IkzPGGeoMG — ANI (@ANI) July 21, 2023

Strategic collaborations have helped UPI continuously broaden its presence internationally since its founding. Sri Lanka is the newest nation to join the list of nations that use the UPI system for international transactions. UPI was already well-established in nations like France, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, and the UAE before this arrangement.

This makes transactions simpler and more practical for Indian customers since they may now utilise UPI, RuPay, and other digital payment channels in these nations.

Indian tourists can now easily conduct transactions in rupees in France thanks to the deployment of UPI. Instead of carrying and exchanging foreign currency, they can make payments using local QR codes or UPI IDs.

With this enhanced convenience, travellers are no longer constrained by predetermined limits on their ability to use foreign currency.