Making it one of the largest developments in the fintech space, PhonePe has tied up with LankaPay, a Sri Lanka-based entity, to facilitate Unified Payment Interface transactions for its users in Sri Lanka. Under the deal, the company's users who travel to Sri Lanka will be able to make transactions using the UPI infrastructure at LankaPay's merchants spread across the country.
The transaction will be denominated in Indian Rupees (INR), with applicable currency exchange rates applied.
Aside from using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) framework of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), these transactions will be facilitated through the LankaPay National Payment Network owned by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
The launch event for this payment service in the capital city was attended by dignitaries such as Santosh Jha, the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, and Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
"Ritesh Pai, CEO, International Payments, PhonePe, said that he is excited to partner with LankaPay in Sri Lanka to make UPI payments easier for Indian tourists. UPI has revolutionized the payments landscape in India and with this partnership, we will bring the same convenience to Indian tourists and business persons traveling to Sri Lanka," he said.
Meanwhile, Channa de Silva, CEO LankaPay, welcomed this partnership and indicated that through this collaboration, Indian tourists and businesspersons will be able to experience increased convenience by using UPI payments with seamless transactions at LankaQR merchant points across Sri Lanka through the PhonePe app.
As has been reported, PhonePe had earlier announced that it would extend UPI services to several markets, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Mauritius, Nepal, and Bhutan. The company plans to use the support of NPCI to promote UPI services in these markets, as Business Standard had reported earlier in the year.
This goes along with the plans of NPCI to take UPI international.
This month, NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the international arm of NPCI, signed an agreement with the Bank of Namibia for the development of an instant payment system like UPI for the African nation.
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