Mutual acceptance of RuPay (India) and Mir (Russia) cards will help Indian and Russian citizens make hassle-free payments in Indian Rupees and Russian Rubles in their respective countries, sources said.
The meeting, co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, also agreed to explore the possibility of interaction between the National Payment Corporation of India and the Faster Payments System (FPS) of the Bank of Russia.
In addition, it was also agreed to consider the adoption of the Russian financial messaging system, the Bank of Russia Financial Messaging System Service Bureau, for cross-border payments.
Currently, outbound payments from India and vice versa go through the SWIFT network.
At the time the sanctions are imposed, sources say it would not be possible for India to opt for any network other than SWIFT.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong launched cross-border connectivity between UPI and PayNow. The linking of India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and Singapore’s PayNow now enables people in both countries to make faster and more cost-effective digital transfers.
It will also help Indian Diaspora in Singapore especially migrant workers and students with instant and low cost money transfer from Singapore to India and vice versa.
The PayNow-UPI link is the world’s first real-time payment system link to use a scalable, cloud-based infrastructure that can adapt to future increases in remittance traffic volume.
To start with, State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank and ICICI Bank will facilitate inbound and outbound remittances, while Axis Bank and DBS India will facilitate inbound remittances.
UPI was launched in 2016, and since then it has become the most popular and preferred payment method, pioneering person-to-person and person-to-merchant transactions, accounting for 75% of total digital payments.
The volume of UPI transactions increased significantly from 0.45 crore in January 2017 to 804 crore in January 2023. The value of UPI transactions increased from just Rs 1,700 crore to Rs 12.98 lakh crore during the same period.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was incorporated in 2008 as the apex organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.
It has created a strong payment and settlement infrastructure in the country. It facilitates payments through a bouquet of retail payment products such as RuPay Card, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), UPI, Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), BHIM Aadhaar, National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC Fastag) and Bharat Bill Pay.
