PhonePe expands to UAE; Indian users visiting the UAE can effortlessly make payments through UPI

The industry leader in digital payments, PhonePe, is extending its reach into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after its dominance in the Indian market. According to the firm, Mashreq Bank's NEOPAY terminals now allow Indian visitors to the UAE to easily make payments using UPI. It's interesting to note that the programme allows QR code scanning for purchases at eating, shopping, and tourism venues. The procedure deducts Indian Rupees (INR) from the user's account, taking into account the current currency rate.

NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) is the intermediary between PhonePe and Mashreq Bank. The goal of this agreement is to include UPI's seamless payment mechanism into the UAE's payment ecosystem.

The move is in line with PhonePe's goal of increasing worldwide accessibility to digital payments.

Indian residents in the United Arab Emirates stand to gain the most from this breakthrough as it makes it possible for them to connect their NRE (non-resident external) and NRO (non-resident ordinary) bank accounts to the PhonePe app. This implies that they won't need to utilise foreign bank cards in order to conduct simple digital payments. 

In order to streamline money transfers, PhonePe intends to launch inbound remittance services by utilising the UPI infrastructure. To simplify financial transactions, the service attempts to do away with the complications associated with traditional bank transfers, such as the requirement for IFSC codes and bank account numbers.