- The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has partnered with French payment services firm Lyra Network to introduce the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payment method in France.
- UPI, India’s instant payment system established in 2016, is now available for purchasing tickets for the Eiffel Tower in France.
- The service is expected to expand quickly to other tourism and retail vendors across the country.
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi views the partnership as a significant step towards globalizing UPI, fostering digital payments, and strengthening ties.
- NPCI International suggests that UPI’s expansion in France will make it easier for touring Indians to remotely book hotels, museum visits, and more during their stay.
- Lyra Network, a French payment management fintech, sees UPI integration in France as a transformative milestone, fostering economic collaboration between India and France.
- The CEO and MD of Lyra Network, Rajesh Desai, highlights the strategic move and aims to enter the global UPI arena in 2024, focusing on POS and Switch solutions, collaborating with fintech, banks, government projects, and merchants.
- This development follows Google Pay India’s recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NPCI’s international payments subsidiary, indicating a broader effort to expand the global reach of UPI.
