PM Modi, Singapore counterpart launch real-time payment systems linkage
The linkage of these two payment systems would enable residents of both countries in faster and cost-efficient transfer of cross-border remittances
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong witnessed the launch of cross-border connectivity between the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India and PayNow of Singapore via video conferencing.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon launched the cross-border connectivity.
"Linkage of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and PayNow is a new milestone in India-Singapore relations," PM Modi said, calling UPI “the most preferred payment mechanism” in India as “74 billion transactions amounting to more than ₹126 trillion were done through UPI in 2022.”
“Many experts are estimating that digital wallet transactions are going to soon overtake cash transactions,” PM Modi added.
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India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing ecosystems for fintech innovation. Prime Minister Modi’s visionary leadership has been instrumental in driving globalisation of India’s best-in-class digital payment infrastructure, union finance ministry said in a statement.
“A key emphasis of the Prime Minister has been on ensuring that the benefits of UPI are not limited to India only, but other countries too benefit from it,” it said.
The linkage of these two payment systems would enable residents of both countries in faster and cost-efficient transfer of cross-border remittances, it added, also helping 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.
