UPI in UAE: PhonePe users can make payments using NEOPAY Terminals

Scan and pay: PhonePe App users travelling to the UAE can now make UPI payments in the country, the Walmart-backed fintech announced on March 28.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in February, the Indian fintech’s users can make UPI payments at Mashreq’s NEOPAY terminals across retail stores, dining outlets and tourist and leisure attractions.

Mashreq is a fifty-year old financial institutions provider in the UAE for banking and financial services.

The collaboration is facilitated through NEOPAY parent Mashreq’s collaboration with NPCI International Payments, enabling NEOPAY terminals to accept UPI apps as a payment instrument.

Users can scan the QR code for making payments, with the account debit to occur in INR as the currency exchange rate.

As part of the facility, NRIs with UAE mobile numbers can also download the PhonePe App and link their existing NRE and NRO accounts to facilitate payments, to ease transactions for the Indian diaspora in the UAE.

Ritesh Pai, CEO International Payments at PhonePe said, “With this partnership, customers can now conveniently transact through UPI, a payment method they are familiar with. Enabling digital payments not only reflects PhonePe’s commitment to convenience but also embraces the evolving needs of today’s travellers.”

PhonePe will also introduce inward remittance services once the corridor for inward remittances is enabled. This will simplify the process of transferring money by leveraging the UPI infrastructure, and eliminate the need for bank account details and  IFSC codes.

Vibhor Mundhada, CEO of NEOPAY at Mashreq added, “We are delighted to collaborate with PhonePe to offer yet another new payment solution for Indian tourists and visitors in the UAE, helping further cement the already strong financial relations between the two countries.”

As per the NPCI’s guidelines, NRIs from the UAE can have access to UPI simply with NRE/NRO bank accounts [Non-Resident External account or Non-Resident Ordinary account] with international mobile numbers linked to the account.