India launches mobile fast payment system for foreign travelers

NEW DELHI, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has announced a payment facility for in-bound foreign travelers by using mobile-based fast payment system "Unified Payments Interface (UPI)", with effect from Tuesday.

Two banks, namely the ICICI Bank and the IDFC First Bank, and two non-bank prepaid payment instrument issuers, namely the Pine Labs Private Limited and the Transcorp International Limited, have been engaged in issuing UPI-linked wallets for international travelers.

The instant payments facility will initially be made available for the travelers from the Group of 20 (G20) members at select international airports, namely Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi.

India will be hosting the G20 summit later this year.

Travelers visiting India can now experience the convenience of UPI payments at over 50 million merchant outlets across India which accept QR Code-based UPI payments.