India’s UPI allowing instantaneous payments through apps and its Singaporean equivalent PayNow are finally integrated. Read to know what this means for both nations.
What are PayNow and UPI?
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a retail payment system in India that allows fast digital payments through apps such as GooglePay, BharatPe, and Paytm. PayNow is the Singaporean equivalent network making peer-to-peer and retail transfers possible. Shaktikanta Das, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India, and Ravi Menon, the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched a program linking the two.
The program was launched in the presence of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indian PM Narendra Modi. With this new integration, cross-border retail payments are going to be more transparent. Previously used methods were more expensive and less transparent. The UPI and PayNow integration is also in alignment with the financial priorities of the G20.
How is this going to benefit the people?
The UPI and PayNow integrations will allow users of both payment systems to make low-cost and instant fund transfers without needing to jump to the other system. Additionally, this is going to help the Indian diaspora in the city nation. Students and migrant workers in Singapore are going to benefit from this. Now with India chairing the G20, Singapore has the invitation to participate in summit proceedings from 2010 to 2011 and 2013 to 2023.
