Indian Tourists in UAE to Benefit from Expanded UPI Payment Access Through New Partnership
New Delhi: NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) has announced a partnership with Magnati, a Middle Eastern provider of payment solutions, which will enable Indian tourists visiting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to use the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to make payments at a variety of merchant locations.
Through the partnership, more retailers would be able to accept UPI as a form of payment from Indian tourists, hence growing the UAE’s QR-based merchant payment network.
Dubai Duty-Free, which mostly serves Indian tourists, would be the first location to adopt the agreement.
It will later be expanded to other sectors such as retail, hospitality, transportation and supermarkets, an NIPL statement said.
NIPL, the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), said that the partnership will provide seamless payment options to over 12 million Indians who travel to Dubai and the UAE annually.
Our goal is to improve Indians’ international payment experiences by giving them access to a global network of digital payment acceptance. Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NIPL, added that it will open the door for deeper cultural and economic ties between India and the UAE.
“This partnership aims to strengthen digital payments, facilitate cross-border payments and provide a seamless payment experience to Indian travelers and NRIs. This collaboration highlights our commitment to creating value through innovative digital solutions and a globally connected ecosystem,” said Salim Awan, Managing Director, Enterprise Payment Solutions, Magnati.
India topped the list of visitors to Dubai in 2023 with 11.9 million tourists, followed by Saudi Arabia (6.7 million) and the United Kingdom (5.9 million).
One of the world’s most successful real-time payment systems, UPI processed over 16 billion transactions in December 2024 alone.
Currently, UPI payments are accepted in seven countries including Bhutan, Mauritius, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka and France. More than 20 apps like BHIM, PhonePe, Paytm, Google Pay support international transactions.