Other Countries Can Learn from India's UPI Success: Cambridge Professor
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is also becoming a worldwide standard, with important lessons to be learned for nations aiming to develop their payment systems digitally, said Professor Carlos Montes from the University of Cambridge Business School. At NXT in New Delhi, Professor Montes spoke of UPI's phenomenal growth and how it made 16.99 billion transactions in January worth more than Rs 23.48 lakh crore.
India's government, in its commitment to accessible, continuously innovating technology that Professor Montes said he thinks is propelling UPI's widespread adoption, was the subject of his commendation. "The rise of UPI proves the government has made sure the citizens have access to technology, with ongoing innovation increasing adoption," he added.
India's digital payments revolution is spreading its wings beyond the domestic front. Sudhir Shyam, Economic Adviser in the Department of Financial Services (DFS), revealed that UPI is currently live in more than seven countries, including the UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, and Mauritius. The global expansion allows for smooth cross-border transactions, enabling Indians to pay overseas and boosting remittance flows.
Shyam highlighted that the global scale achieves not just the financial inclusion, but it further enhances India's position within the global financial market. Low-cost and frictionless nature of transactions through UPI have also powered its domination within India's e-payment universe in spite of transaction volumes on the rise overall.
Encouragingly, there have been interested other countries for adopting UPI-like systems. The Indian government continues to work on pushing the boundaries of innovation to take UPI to those unpenetrated areas as well, and digital payments remain more accessible to millions.
As UPI gains traction, India's success story of digital transformation provides a template for nations that want to upgrade their financial infrastructure. By learning from India's experience, countries across the globe can speed up their path towards a more inclusive and efficient digital economy.
