Go cashless: India's Rupay cards and UPI will soon be accepted in France

India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Rupay cards will soon be accepted in France, possibly paving the way for these cashless transactions in the rest of European Union in future. India has started the process in France by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) International, and Lyra Network of France, said Indian Ambassador in France Jawed Ashraf.

Ashraf said, "When I was the ambassador of Singapore then we tried to launch Bhim QR and RuPay card in Singapore. We tried and successfully launched. Most of the merchandise accepts UPI payments and RuPay cards. I strongly believe that we can do this in Europe also. We are trying to start UPI and RuPay cards soon in France. We will have to discuss this with Central Bank, regulators and companies here in France.”

“In France, there is very less use of digital payment. But it needs to be integrated and seamless. It lacks efficiency as we have in India. We have started the process in France by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NPCI, International and Lyra Network of France," he added.

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The Ambassador said that once he went to a doctor in France but didn't have the cash or cheque to pay. The doctor asked him to pay in cash or by cheque. He had to visit an ATM to withdraw the cash and pay the doctor.

“If UPI comes to France, then it will benefit the people of France. If we share the benefits of UPI with the people of France, then they will accept it. Regulators, banks, and companies will accept it. If we implement it in the Bank of France, then I think that we will also be able to push it for European Union," Ashraf explained.

However, the Ambassador said, "We will have to start with France first. Some banks like BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, etc are having presence in India and they know the success story of UPI."

(with inputs from agencies)

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