There is good news for NRIs and OCIs residing outside India. Sending money back to India from overseas will be cheaper and easier for nearly 32 million Indian expats. Moreover, they will be able to make small ticket transactions without a SWIFT code. NPCI is planning to launch UPI for overseas Indians for hassle-free remittance from around the world. As per the new directions, NRIs can use UPI with NRI NRE/NRO account and International Phone Number.
UPI for Overseas Indians
The National Payments Corporation of India, popularly known as NPCI, is planning to make overseas forays to give India a home-grown alternative to the SWIFT payment system. After its resounding domestic success, NPCI is planning to take the UPI (Unified Payments Interface) to the international market.
India received remittances worth over $87 billion in 2021, the biggest inflow for any country tracked by the World Bank.
Above figures show that overseas Indians remitted the largest sum inwards. This step taken by the NPCI will help overseas Indians a lot. NRIs and OCIs will be able to send money back to India in real time at lower costs.
Ritesh Shukla, chief executive officer of NPCI International Payments Ltd., said in the remittance market, it costs an average $13 to send $200 across borders. He believes that it is the right time to enter the remittance market, stressing that the objective is not to displace existing platforms.
“We have displaced cash in India to a large extent and are now looking to repeat the success in cross-border corridors.”
“Overseas Indians can use our rails to remit money inwards straightway into their bank accounts, and for the markets where Indians travel frequently, we will build acceptance for our instruments,” Shukla said.
UPI is shared by around 330 banks and 25 apps, including Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm and WhatsApp, which has helped people to make instant digital transactions in India, an economy of $3 trillion.
NPCI is in touch with governments, banks, fintech companies and other service providers to connect the UPI platform to systems in other countries. NPCI is working to reduce transaction costs and enable more small-ticket transactions, Shukla said.
Cheaper Remittance Cost
Endorsing the concept, Mayank Goyal, CEO of moneyHop, said “This is going to take the payments world by storm.” moneyHop will also seek to integrate UPI rails into the app to make cross-border payments easier.
The Reserve Bank of India in a report said linking the UPI with other countries will boost trade, travel and remittance flows between countries and bring about a superior cross-border experience while reducing remittance costs.
NRIs can link their NRE/NRO account on UPI with a registered mobile number issued by an Indian service provider.
Under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, the RBI allows resident individuals to freely remit up to $2,50,000 during each financial year for any permissible transaction abroad. Resident Indians can enjoy foreign exchange facilities for specific purposes within the limit of $2.5 lakh only.
You can get preferential rates on currency conversion and a host of benefits when remitting from overseas to India, or other way around. At SBNRI, we keep an eye on the exchange rate on a regular basis to help NRIs with their remittances and investment. You can download SBNRI App to connect with our experts. They will help you evaluate the optimal time for remitting money to India from Australia.
You can also click on the button below to ask any questions. Visit our blog and YouTube Channel for more details.
