This country to get India's UPI-like real-time payments platform soon

NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), a subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), said on Friday that it had entered into a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Digital Transformation (MDT) of Trinidad and Tobago to develop a real-time payments platform. The platform will be similar to the popular Uniqifed Payments Interface (UPI)-based payments system currently being used in India. The development makes Trinidad and Tobago the first Caribbean nation to adopt the globally renowned UPI, a significant step in expanding India's digital public goods initiative globally. 

"This builds on the strong, longstanding bilateral ties between the two countries," NPCI International said. 

The partnership is aimed at empowering Trinidad and Tobago to establish a reliable and efficient real-time payments platform for both person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions, expanding digital payments in the country, and fostering financial inclusion, according to NPCI International.

“Trinidad and Tobago is taking significant steps towards advancing its financial infrastructure, and we are proud to support them in building a secure, sovereign, and scalable payments platform. Our experience with UPI in India has demonstrated how real-time payments can transform economies by improving access to essential financial services and reducing reliance on cash. We look forward to working closely with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Central Bank in Trinidad and Tobago," said Ritesh Shukla, CEO, NPCI International. 

“It is with great anticipation that the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Finance embark on this significant engagement with NIPL to implement a digital payment system for Trinidad and Tobago. Fashioned on India’s UPI, the digital payment platform will facilitate innovation in the fintech sector, enhance the technical resiliency of the current payment infrastructure by providing a complementary, non-competing digital payments platform with increased security through the reduced use of cash," said a spokesperson of the Ministry of Digital Transformation in Trinidad and Tobago. 

"We extend sincere thanks to the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago which continues to be a strategic partner and stakeholder in this important initiative. We look forward to the partnership with NPCI International as we actively seek to transform the existing payments landscape and establish a modern digital payments ecosystem," said the spokesperson. 

Over the years, UPI has emerged as a transformative force in India’s financial landscape, registering nearly 15 billion transactions in August 2024 with an estimated value of $245 billion.

Through strategic collaborations with foreign central banks and governments, NIPL remains committed to advancing India’s digital public goods across the globe.

Incorporated in April 2020, NPCI International Payments is the international arm of NPCI.

Set up by the RBI and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA), NPCI is responsible for managing and operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.