India And Singapore Linked Their Online Payments Systems, UPI And PayNow

India and Singapore on Tuesday linked their respective online payment systems, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India and PayNow of Singapore, in a first-of-its-kind partnership with another nation to enable seamless cross-border transactions between the two.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India both attended the virtual launch event.

"The linking of fintech services between India and Singapore will take the technology to a new level," according to PM Modi, who spoke at the launch event.

The launch event was also overseen by Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the nation's top financial authority, and Shaktikanta Das, governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Prime Minister Modi has placed a strong emphasis on making sure that other countries also benefit from UPI, not just India.

Separately, the Reserve Bank of India proposed permitting all international visitors to India to use UPI for their merchant payments while they are in the nation, taking into account the system's popularity.

The announcement was made on February 8 by the RBI governor as he was discussing the results of the three-day monetary policy committee meeting.

MD of the Singapore Monetary Authority In the presence of PM Modi and PM Lee, Ravi Menon and RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das display their phones after a successful cross-border fund transfer.

“The launch of the UPI-PayNow linkage (between India and Singapore) is a gift to the citizens of the two countries, which they were waiting for eagerly. I congratulate the people of both India and Singapore for this”, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“In today’s era, technology connects us to each other in several ways. Fintech is a sector that connects people to each other. Normally, it is confined within the boundaries of one country. But today’s launch has started a new chapter of cross-border Fintech connectivity … In the past few years, India has given the highest priority to creating a conducive environment for innovation & modernization. With our Digital India program, Ease of Doing Business has been enhanced. With this, besides digital connectivity, financial inclusion has also received a thrust,”, he continued.