Peru to adopt UPI technology, first South American country to do so

Peru will soon have an instant payment system like India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI). NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), signed an agreement with the Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP) to develop this technology. This marks NIPL’s second collaboration with a central bank to implement the UPI stack internationally. In May, NIPL partnered with the Bank of Namibia (BoN) to develop a similar instant payment system in Namibia. CEO of NIPL, Mr. Ritesh Shukla, stated, “Our partnership with the BCRP aims to strengthen Peru’s financial infrastructure and foster economic growth. Once operational, Peruvian citizens will benefit from unparalleled convenience, security, and efficiency in financial transactions.”

The partnership will facilitate instant payments between individuals and businesses, extending digital payments to Peru’s unbanked population. “The support of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been a cornerstone of this agreement. The BCRP aims to promote financial inclusion, security, and efficiency and to introduce new use cases in digital payments. Additionally, we believe this new infrastructure will foster innovation and allow new participants to enter the Peruvian ecosystem,” said BCRP Governor Mr. Julio Velarde. This development follows NPCI’s efforts to internationalize UPI, having expanded into markets such as France, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Mauritius. In January 2024, NPCI launched the UPI-PayNow linkage, enabling remittances between India and Singapore to be directly entered into bank accounts. In February, NPCI announced a partnership with e-commerce and proximity payments company Lyra to enable UPI acceptance in France. That same month, UPI services were rolled out in Sri Lanka and Mauritius.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.