Days ahead of the Olympics, India’s UPI has expanded its footprint by reaching the heart of France-Paris! Now whether one wants to visit Eiffel tower or is busy shopping at the world renowned store of Galeries Lafayette on Haussmann Boulevard. One can now simply make payments by using UPI!
Yesterday, the Indian ambassador to France, Mr Ashraf Jawed, launched UPI at the store. Just six months ago, it was launched at the Eiffel Tower in January 2024. The Indian embassy in an official press release announced, “On July 3, 2024, the Unified Payments Interface became live at the flagship store of the world-renowned Galeries Lafayette in Haussmann, Paris. This expands the acceptance of UPI in Paris after a successful launch at the iconic Eiffel Tower.”
UPI-Going Global…
This news comes just days ahead of the Paris Olympics, which will start on July 26th. It is a landmark move, for it is a step towards realising PM Modi’s vision of globalising UPI. At the launch event, the Indian Ambassador recalled the first international launch of UPI in Singapore in 2018. At that time, PM Modi, had himself launched it. Since its launch in 2018, UPI has come a long way.
Countries like Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bhutan, Nepal, Singapore, UAE and France have officially integrated UPI enabled apps. Thereby, enabling Indian tourists, students and NRI’s to make payments abroad with ease. For they will now be able to make payments for tickets or other expenses using UPI just like they would in India.
Overall, UPI has revolutionised the digital payment landscape in India since its launch in the year 2016. As per latest data, the UPI transaction value rose 49% y-o-y basis to 14 billion in June. Reiterating the same, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das had stated that India accounts for 46% of the global digital transactions. All in all, with its recent launch in Paris, UPI will further facilitate seamless transactions for Indians abroad. This move also underscores, its evolving role as a global digital payment solution.