During PM Modi’s visit, UPI system’s likely debut in France; first in Europe

New Delhi: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Paris on two-day visit on Thursday, India’s digital payment technology Unified Payments Interface (UPI) may roll out ‘first services’ in France, marking its launch in Europe.

According to a leading portal, the launch of UPI in France could be one of the big-ticket announcements during PM Modi’s two-day trip. There may be possible launch of UPI and the pact may be on lines of India-Singapore fast payment linkage, it reported.

India’s digital payment system UPI struck a deal with Singapore’s PayNow in 2023 to facilitate cross-border monetary transactions, which meant that users from either country could transfer money to other country without hefty charges, as existed earlier.

If UPI’s parent body NPCI manages to strike a pact with France’s Lyra , it will open gates for seamless money transactions between people of both nations. NPCI & Lyra are reportedly in discussion for a year now over integration of services. If all the modalities are closed in time, the linkage may be launched by PM Modi during this visit itself, reported the portal.

If this happens, France will become the first European country to see launch of India’s UPI system.

PM Modi’s visit to France, marking 25 years of India-France ties, is set to be a major milestone in the bilateral relationship between two nations.

Defence co-operation between the two countries are top of agenda and also the primary focus, the two nations are also expected to cement ties in sectors like digital economy, clean energy.

Clean energy is another area of focus during PM Modi’s visit to France. It was here in 2015 that PM Modi had kickstarted International Solar alliance in 2015, which saw coming together of many nations in support of clean energy. Today, the alliance has 100 countries as members.