The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in close collaboration with the government and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), is working to expand the attain of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and RuPay globally. In this connection, it has written to other central banks highlighting the characteristics of UPI as an effective and safe method, the RBI mentioned in a not too long ago-released booklet on payment and settlement systems in India. As on November 30, 2020, RuPay had a 60% share in cards issued, the booklet mentioned.
UPI can be used to transform retail payment mechanisms globally, and at the identical time market monetary inclusion, the booklet mentioned. “UPI system has the potential to evolve into a cheaper and quicker alternative to available channels of remittance for cross-border payments as well, whether related to retail remittances or small-value trade transactions. It could, in future, provide the basis for a stronger bilateral business and economic partnership with other jurisdictions,” the RBI mentioned.
The central bank has also participated in regional outreach programmes exactly where the characteristics of UPI and the possibility of leveraging on the UPI method to facilitate cross-border transactions had been presented to participants. It is collaborating with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) to organise outreach events and webinars to spread awareness about the possible of UPI and encourage the adoption of UPI and RuPay cards across jurisdictions.
Over the previous 10 years, for the duration of the period amongst FY11 and FY20, the quantity of debit cards issued elevated to 82.86 crore from 22.78 crore, of which about 30 crore had been RuPay debit cards issued to standard savings bank deposit (BSBD) accountholders. During the identical period, the quantity of credit cards issued elevated to 5.77 crore from 1.80 crore. The improve in cards has facilitated development in each on the internet and physical point of sale (PoS) terminal-based card payments, resulting in an improve in digital transactions, the RBI mentioned.
Countries that encourage domestic cards have been observed to be quicker in moving away from money, the booklet mentioned. “India is a late entrant to the domestic card market and in 2017, the share of RuPay was only 15% of the total cards issued in India. However, as on November 30, 2020, with about 60.36 crore RuPay cards issued by nearly 1,158 banks, the market share of RuPay has increased to more than 60% of total cards issued,” the RBI mentioned. A considerable proportion of RuPay cards is in the nature of debit cards, with only 9.7 lakh credit cards issued as on November 30, 2020.
“To increase its acceptance around the world, RuPay has tied up with other payment networks like Union Pay (China), JCB (Japan), NETS (Singapore), BC Card (South Korea), Elo (Brazil) and DinaCard (Serbia), in addition to Discover and Diners Club and has thus made its presence felt across 195 countries across the globe,” the RBI mentioned.