If someone you know lives in Singapore and needs money late at night, just pick up your cell phone and send it to him in a jiffy via UPI. Singapore is included in UPI’s reach, a linkage mechanism has been established between UPI and Singapore’s Pay Now, and money will be sent right away. The country’s major payments platform Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Singapore’s Pay Now payment system today put out the feature of linking for cross-border fast payments. India has made such a relationship with any nation for the first time.

With simply their UPI ID, cellphone number, or virtual payment address, the user may now transfer or receive money from India in their bank account or e-wallet, according to the RBI (VPA). Indian citizens are limited to a daily spending limit of Rs 60,000 (about $1000 in Singapore dollars).

Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister of Singapore, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially opened a facility to connect the two nations’ financial systems. The first transaction employing this feature was carried out through telephones by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Managing Director Ravi Menon.

Remittance Facility

• Money can be sent or received instantly through UPI ID, mobile number, and VPA
• Initially, it will be allowed to send or receive up to Rs 60,000 in a day.
• Migrant workers, professionals, and students will benefit from this affordable facility

Modi stated through a video conference that this facility will offer a quick and affordable option for cross-border money transfers between the two nations. This resource is extremely useful for professionals, students, and migrant workers’ families. According to Loong, more than 4 lahks Indians reside in Singapore, and more than $1 billion in retail payments and remittances are sent and received between the two nations each year.

UPI and PayNow were the ones who started the transaction. relationship between two people in India. In addition to rapid cross-border payment connection, it is also the first instance of cloud-based infrastructure and involvement by non-bank financial organizations in the globe.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, the RBI, NPCI International Payments Ltd, Banking Computer Services Private Limited, and partner banks and non-banking financial institutions collaborated to build the facility. In the year 2018, Singapore’s Network for Electronic Transfers and NPCI International Payments Ltd released the card and QR code between the two nations.

Pay now and leave, the Singaporean prime minister commanded. When Prime Minister Modi visited Singapore in 2018, the notion of tying UPI was first raised. Similar to bank accounts or e-wallets, Pay Now – UPI connection will offer companies and people a quick, safe, and affordable way to send and receive money across international boundaries for retail payments and remittances.

Das has voiced optimism for an increase in remittances during the current fiscal year. A rise in this, he had claimed, would contribute to closing the current account deficit. Around $100 billion is anticipated to be paid to India from outside this year, according to the World Bank.

People received $27.4 billion from overseas for the months of July through September, increasing 19.7% from the corresponding period in 2016. In this, Indian workers who are stationed overseas are the major senders of money.

State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank, and ICICI Bank would first give the facility to transfer or receive money from the nation under this, according to the RBI. The ability to move money from Singapore to India will be made available via Axis Bank and DBS. DBS – Singapore and Ltd. Quid Group both offer services to customers in Singapore. Over time, other banks will be added to it as well. People in Singapore and India would be able to transmit money to each other starting today, exactly like they can in their own countries, according to Modi. In India, UPI is the most popular form of payment. This is the reason why many experts have predicted that very soon India’s digital wallet payments will overtake cash transactions.