Travelling abroad? France, Mauritius, Qatar — Here's the full list of countries with UPI facility enabled for Indians

The unified payment interface (UPI) system being implemented abroad, allows eligible customers, including Indian tourists and travelers visiting foreign countries, to securely send and receive money instantly while significantly lowering payment costs compared with conventional cross-border transfer methods.

As UPI acceptance widens globally, users can expect several practical advantages while travelling to participating locations. Expansion across various countries will largely benefit Indian tourists, students and business travelers abroad by allowing use familiar UPI-enabled mobile apps for payments instead of relying solely on international debit or credit cards.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal last month noted that UPI's growing international acceptance reflects “trust in India for building technology-led solutions that create value beyond borders and deepen partnerships for shared growth and prosperity”.

UPI in foreign countries: Check full list here

UPI is developed by the National Payments Corporation of India, authorised under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. In April 2020, NPCI incorporated the NPCI International Payments (NIPL) to partner with foreign entities and take platforms, such as UPI and the RuPay card scheme, to international markets. 

The aim is to enable cross-border payments for Indian tourists and the diaspora and assist partner countries and entities in building their payment infrastructure along the lines of UPI's real-time payment systems. For foreign markets, UPI is linked with the payment systems of various countries to facilitate Person-to-Person (P2P) remittances and Person-to-Merchant (P2M) transactions. 

Here's a look at the countries and respective partner institutions, using UPI: 

Benefits of UPI abroad: Key highlights

• UPI is designed to reduce transaction costs to a fraction of conventional transfer fees due to charges imposed by international credit or debit cards, besides additional forex processing charges. 
• It also enables cash-free travel for tourists, allowing digital payments directly from linked Indian bank accounts without the need for significant cash in hand. 
• There is also benefit of near-instant payments eliminating delays and dependence on international payment networks for traditional payment methods. 
• It also allows for real-time expense tracking as transactions are conducted directly from linked bank accounts or UPI apps.

About 55.49 crore users onboarded in June

UPI transactions grew 24,162 crore in volume and 314 lakh crore in value in FY26, according to Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Finance Pankaj Chaudhary. In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 20 July, he noted that UPI has onboarded 55.49 crore users in June 2026.

In a statement released, the ministry noted that the Centre, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and NPCI have from time to time undertaken various initiatives to make UPI-based transactions secure and transparent.

These measures, inter alia, include:

• Risk-based transaction limits to curb fraudulent transactions, 
• Safeguards against unauthorised mobile number changes and misuse of SMS-based authentication, and
• Enhanced security requirements for UPI applications. 
• Further, NPCI has issued the Comprehensive UPI Information Security Framework (CUISF) 2025 and the Mobile Application Security Framework, mandating advanced security controls to strengthen the safety and resilience of the UPI ecosystem.

UPI transactions growth over last five financial years

Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes and only intends to spread awareness. We advise readers to check and discuss with certified experts before making any financial decisions.