India plans major East Asia expansion for UPI as global digital payments grow

India is seeking to expand the international footprint of its homegrown digital payments platform, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), with a particular focus on East Asia, financial services secretary M. Nagaraju said on Tuesday.

UPI is accepted in eight countries — Bhutan, Singapore, Qatar, Mauritius, Nepal, the UAE, Sri Lanka and France — allowing Indian travellers to make merchant payments abroad using the platform. Nagaraju said India now accounts for around half of global digital transactions, driven largely by UPI adoption.