Overview
- RBI announced that interlinking India’s UPI with the Eurosystem’s TIPS has moved into the realisation phase after sustained engagement.
- RBI and NPCI International Payments Ltd will collaborate with the European Central Bank on technical integration, risk management and settlement arrangements.
- The linkage is aimed at enabling faster, lower-cost cross-border remittances between India and the Euro Area, benefiting users on both sides.
- The effort is aligned with the G20 roadmap to improve speed, cost, transparency and access in cross-border payments, and the corridor is not yet live.
- The ECB’s Governing Council agreed to advance TIPS interconnections following exploratory work begun in 2024, while UPI’s global push continues via merchant acceptance in Europe and links such as Bahrain’s Fawri+, with 20.7 billion UPI transactions recorded in October.