The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Nepal Rastra Bank on Thursday, February 15, signed and exchanged terms of reference for the integration of fast payment systems of India and Nepal through India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Nepal’s National Payments Interface (NPI), respectively.

The integration is aimed at facilitating cross-border remittances between India and Nepal by enabling users of the two systems to make instant, low-cost fund transfers, the RBI said in a statement on Thursday.

The collaboration between India and Nepal in linking their fast payment systems through the UPI-NPI linkage will further deepen financial connectivity and reinforce the enduring historical, cultural, and economic ties between the two countries.

“Based on the terms of reference exchanged between RBI and NRB, the necessary systems will be put in place for interlinking of UPI and NPI. The formal launch of the linkage i.e., commencement of operations will be done at a later date,” the RBI stated.

The development comes after India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) services were On Monday, February 12, launched in Sri Lanka and Mauritius at a virtual ceremony, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mauritian PM Pravind Jugnauth, and Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

In February 2023, UPI was also launched in Singapore, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong witnessing the launch of cross-border connectivity between UPI and PayNow via videoconferencing. The linkage allowed transfer of fund between India and Singapore in a swift and cost-effective way just by using phone number.

Apart from this, PhonePe also earlier enabled payments abroad and has said all international merchant outlets in the UAE, Singapore, Mauritius, Nepal and Bhutan that have a local QR code are supported.