India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has expanded its international presence to 11 countries, while transactions worth Rs 29.87 lakh crore were processed through the platform in July, according to the government.
The rapid expansion highlights UPI's growing importance in India's digital payments ecosystem and its increasing acceptance as an interoperable payment system beyond the country's borders.
Developed by the National Payments Corporation of India, UPI has become one of the world's largest real-time payment platforms and a key part of India's Digital Public Infrastructure.
UPI now operational in 11 countries
UPI is currently available for payment acceptance and/or cross-border remittances in 11 countries.
These include:
- Bhutan
- Nepal
- Singapore
- United Arab Emirates
- France
- Sri Lanka
- Mauritius
- Qatar
- Cambodia
- Greece
- Maldives
Greece and the Maldives are the latest countries to adopt the Indian digital payments system.
The expansion allows Indian users to make UPI payments in participating international markets, while also strengthening cross-border payment connectivity.
UPI transactions reach Rs 29.87 lakh crore in July
UPI processed transactions worth Rs 29.87 lakh crore in July alone, underlining the scale at which digital payments are now being used across India.
According to the government's assessment, UPI has grown nearly 12,000-fold over the past decade since its launch.
The platform has become the backbone of India's digital payments ecosystem, enabling instant bank-to-bank transfers and merchant payments through a common and interoperable system.
The International Monetary Fund, in a report released in June 2025, highlighted that UPI accounted for around 49% of global real-time payment transaction volume in 2024.
How UPI has expanded beyond simple payments
UPI has steadily added new features to expand its use across different types of users and transactions.
Between 2020 and 2022, several major services were introduced, including UPI AutoPay for recurring payments such as EMIs and SIPs.
UPI 123PAY was launched to allow feature-phone users to make digital payments through methods including IVR and missed calls.
UPI Lite was also introduced for smaller transactions, reducing the need to enter a PIN for every low-value payment. Credit cards were later linked to the UPI ecosystem as well.
During this period, Bhutan became the first international market where UPI was introduced.
New features added to UPI in recent years
The payment platform has continued to evolve with new services and higher transaction limits.
In 2024, UPI Circle was introduced to enable delegated payments, allowing a primary user to authorise another person to make payments within defined limits.
The Reserve Bank of India also increased the UPI transaction limit for tax payments from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
Meanwhile, the transaction limit for UPI 123PAY was increased to Rs 10,000. The UPI Lite wallet limit was raised to Rs 5,000, while its per-transaction limit was increased to Rs 1,000.
In 2025, biometric authentication options were further expanded with on-device biometric authentication and Aadhaar-based face authentication for UPI PIN onboarding.
India's UPI model gains global attention
UPI's expansion to 11 countries reflects growing international interest in India's digital public infrastructure model.
Unlike closed payment systems, UPI operates on an interoperable framework that allows multiple banks and payment applications to connect through a common infrastructure.
With nearly half of the world's real-time payment transaction volume attributed to UPI in 2024, the platform has emerged as one of India's most significant technology exports.
As more countries explore digital and instant payment systems, UPI's international expansion could further strengthen India's role in the global digital payments ecosystem.
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