German minister hails India’s Digital infra, 'fascinated' after using UPI payment model

Hailing the Indian digital infrastructure, the German embassy called it one of the country’s success stories as Germany’s Federal Minister for Digital and Transport, Volker Wissing, used UPI to make a payment in India and was "very fascinated" by the experience.

The German Embassy in India took to micro-blogging platform and shared pictures where Wissing can be seen using the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to make a payment to a vegetable seller. 

The German Embassy in India stated, "One of India’s success story is digital infrastructure. UPI enables everybody to make transactions in seconds. Millions of Indians use it. Federal Minister for Digital and Transport @Wissing was able to experience the simplicity of UPI payments first hand and is very fascinated!"

One of India’s success story is digital infrastructure. UPI enables everybody to make transactions in seconds. Millions of Indians use it. Federal Minister for Digital and Transport @Wissing was able to experience the simplicity of UPI payments first hand and is very fascinated! pic.twitter.com/I57P8snF0C

— German Embassy India (@GermanyinIndia) August 20, 2023

Wissing on August 18 arrived in Bengaluru to participate in the G20 Digital Ministers Meeting and attended the DEMM the next day. 

In a post on X, the German Embassy in India stated, "G20 Digital Ministers meeting in Bangalore is about to start. Minister @Wissing&our great host Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw have an insightful discussion on deepening Indo-German cooperation in IT and especially AI through our Digital Dialogue."

So far, Sri Lanka, France, UAE, and Singapore have partnered with India on emerging fintech and payment solutions. Earlier in July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India and France have agreed to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payment mechanism. 

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is India’s mobile-based fast payment system, which facilitates customers to make round-the-clock payments instantly, using a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) created by the customer. 

Addressing the Indian community in Paris during his recent France visit, PM Modi said, "Be it India’s UPI or other digital platforms, they have brought a huge social transformation in the country and I am happy that India and France are also working together in this direction. India and France have agreed to use UPI in France. I will leave after the agreement. However, it is your job to move forward. Friends, in the coming days its beginning will be made from Eiffel Tower which means that Indian tourists will now be able to make payments in Rupees, through UPI, at Eiffel Tower."

(With ANI inputs)