India's UPI and Singapore's PayNow are now linked: How will this benefit users?

India has experienced a technological revolution in recent years. From government services to groceries being delivered at home, everything is accessible online. As the Indian government digitised the financial system and economy, digital payments grew steadily. With the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) being connected to PayNow on Tuesday, Indians can now send money to their friends, coworkers, and relatives in Singapore via digital payment systems like Google Pay and PayTM. The linking of two real-time payment systems, which enables quicker and more affordable money transfers, was witnessed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Singaporean colleague Lee Hsien Loong via videoconference. At 11 am, the cross-border link was officially launched (MAS) by RBI governor Shaktikanta Das and Monetary Authority of Singapore managing director Ravi Menon.

🎥A short film screened on UPI of India and PayNow of Singapore

It elucidates how the linkage of these two payment systems would enable residents of both countries in faster and cost-efficient transfer of cross-border remittances#IndiaSingaporeRelations pic.twitter.com/NvQADsGtqo

— PIB India (@PIB_India) February 21, 2023

About UPI and PayNow India’s mobile-based fast payment system, UPI allows users to make instant payments round-the-clock using a virtual payment address (VPA). According to the NCPI website, UPI powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing and merchant payments into one hood. UPI supports both person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions, enabling a user to send or receive money. It removes the danger of the sender disclosing bank account information, according to Indian Express. Likewise, PayNow is Singapore’s fast payment system that allows users to send/receive funds, and to retail clients through participating banks and Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NFIs). The transactions are instantly carried out using merely their mobile number, Singapore National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) or Foreign Identification Number (FIN), or VPA. Also read: How NRIs will be able to make payments via UPI India’s UPI & Singapore’s PayNow linkage Cross-border fund transfers are typically more expensive and less traceable than domestic ones. Thus, India and Singapore came together in order to allow residents of both countries to enable the faster and more cost-efficient transfer of money, according to Livemint. The project was initiated in September 2021 to make fund transfers easy, cost-efficient and transparent. This linkage is considered to be a significant milestone that closely aligns with the G20’s financial inclusion priorities of making cross-border transactions more transparent and cheaper. It is pertinent to mention here that India is hosting the highly-anticipated G20, which is based on the rotational membership structure. The country has invited Singapore, even though it is not a G20 member, to participate in the summit. User benefits The UPI-PayNow linkage will now enable users to make faster payments at low-cost on a reciprocal basis without the need to use any other payment systems. According to News18, it is expected to benefit the Indian diaspora in Singapore, particularly migrant workers and students who typically sacrifice about 10 per cent of the amount as bank fees for money transfers. “It will also help the Indian diaspora in Singapore, especially migrant workers and students through instantaneous and low-cost transfer of money from Singapore to India and vice-versa,” said the Prime Minister’s Office in a release. According to the ministry of external affairs (MEA) document Population of Overseas Indians (2022), there are 6.5 lakh Indians residing in Singapore, including non-resident Indians and persons of Indian origin. Also read: How Indian travellers can now use UPI to make payments in Europe An important initiative Speaking about the linkage, Mehul Mistry, Global Head-Strategy, Digital Financial Services & Partnerships at Wibmo told News18 that Singapore is one of the top four inward remittance markets. It accounts for roughly 5.7 per cent of all remittances to India or approximately $5.08 billion of the $100 billion total inward remittance market. He said, “This initiative will have several advantages such as customers outside India (in Singapore) will experience world-class payment infrastructure. This will witness the globalisation of India’s best-in-class digital payment infrastructure.” On the other hand, Chirag Taneja, the co-founder of Gokwik, told the news outlet that this is one of the most iconic moments in the world of cross-border e-commerce. “With UPI and PayNow coming together, they are paving way for digital-first transactions to seamlessly expand the horizon. This new connection will empower businesses and individuals with frictionless transactions beyond borders, making international commerce more accessible and convenient than ever before,” he said. UPI goes international India has inked Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with over 13 countries that want to adopt the UPI for digital payments, reported Times of India. According to the PM Office, the latest initiative could serve as a model for establishing similar infrastructure for cross-border payments between India and ASEAN countries. Additionally, PhonePe became the first fintech application to facilitate UPI payments in various countries when it announced the “UPI International” payments, according to TOI. Indian users won’t have to battle any longer to send money abroad. The latest update on PhonePe will let users instantly pay foreign merchants using UPI. Notably, the app has expanded its UPI support to nations with local QR codes like the UAE, Singapore, Mauritius, Nepal, and Bhutan. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.