Indian UPI Launched In France During Eiffel Tower Event To Enable Digital Payments

Recently a news is spreading very fast that UPI Launched In France. And along with this we also know that Paytm is in danger because of RBI and on the other hand our UPI (Unified Payments Interface) system has reached the European country France. France is a very good friend and partner of India and due to this, just a few days ago we have made many deals with France, one of which is that UPI will be launched in France for the first time in Europe.

Now as we all know that the organization that maintains UPI and all digital payments in India is NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India). Similarly, NPCI also has an international arm named – NPCI International Payments LTD.

NPCI Deal With Lyra

Now, this organization has made a very important deal in collaboration with Lyra regarding UPI. Lyra is a French company operating in the financial sector, and it is a very large Fintech company from France that has been operating in India for 17 years. The deal they have now made is not recent; it is news from July 14, 2023, when Prime Minister Modi met with President Macron in France. During the meeting, Prime Minister Modi addressed the Indian diaspora and mentioned that UPI could start soon in France.

Now let us go back a little further towards 2022, there is another company in France which operates throughout Europe, its name is Worldline. So Worldline also started operating like Lyra that we also work in finance and e-commerce in Europe. Now, till now the money transactions that take place in finance or e-commerce are in close proximity. Like we have UPI IDs and QR Codes, so we go to the shopkeeper, scan their QR Code and make the payment. Similarly, Worldline works in Europe, but here it uses proximity, in which if two devices come close, money is exchanged between them. Worldline also had its collaboration with NPCI.

Indian UPI Launched In France At Eiffel Tower

Modi ji had come to France saying that very soon we will launch UPI from the Eiffel Tower for the first time in France. We know that a lot of tourism in Europe takes place in France. PM Modi ji had promised that for the first time you can go to the Eiffel Tower in France and purchase your tickets with the help of UPI.

When our Republic Day was being celebrated, the Embassy of India had announced during the celebrations itself that we inaugurate that UPI has become operational in France. And Eiffel Tower is its first merchant, that is, it is the first merchant who can do this by taking money with the help of UPI and giving you tickets.

Background Of UPI

Now we will go back a little further and see whether it is only about UPI and to what extent it has been expanded in India, how many countries outside India have befriended us for this? So on this we will say that many countries have befriended us, these are those countries which either already use our UPI or use a version of UPI in their countries. If we go back a little further, in July 2021, Bhutan had said for the first time that it wanted to join hands with UPI.

We know that our UPI is as important as when Aryabhata ji once invented zero. We taught the whole world one such thing that see how quickly, seamlessly and quickly, and even faster than IMPS, we can transfer our money instantly. And this entire process is seamless, there is no interruption in it, the message also reaches the next person. That means at this time you can also call it a new invention of Arya Bhatt.

UPI has now started dealing in very voluminous transactions. UPI and FastTag came in just a few years, how quickly they started and how quickly they spread. If you see everywhere in the country, FASTag and UPI are being used extensively. So there are many such countries who want to join hands with us that this technology is very good and give this technology to us too.

  In July 2021 Bhutan, in August 2021 Malaysia, then Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, UAE, Nepal, France, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Oman, London , Sri Lanka – by doing this, we are now in July 2023, where we have started making our deals.

Now we have seen that the deals that were made so long ago with France are being fruitful here in 2022, so it is possible that the future deals that are going on may take another 6 months or 1 year to be completed. . We have also started looking outside whether it is Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, UAE, France, Bhutan, UPI or some other variant like UPI has been started in these countries. Similarly, our future markets where we want to talk about where there is a lot of Indian diaspora are Australia and Russia. Because many Indians live here too.

When we did the package with UAE, NPCI did its full collaboration with Al Etihad Payment and at that time our Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal ji was also present and the Premier and President of UAE Zayed Al Nahyan ji were also present there. . When the G20 summit was held here, RBI had said that so many tourists and students are coming from outside, we are allowing these people to come to our place and start using UPI.

Now, in Singapore, there is a company similar to ours here. Just as we have UPI companies like Paytm, Google Pay, and PhonePe, Singapore has a company called PayNow. This company has integrated its entire software with UPI, and now people from Singapore can send money to us if they have a domestic account in our Indian banks. In addition to this, many countries like Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam can also make payments by scanning their QR codes. But they too have learned it from – India.

What is India Stack?

We have a huge game changing mechanism ahead which we call India Stack – the indigenously – developed digital goods, which includes UPI, Aarogya setu, and Digilocker, among others. India Stack is a very strong game changing platform, this entire process is cashless and digital and you will never need physical things in it.

Recently we saw in the budget that DPI (Digital Public Infrastructure) was mentioned, as we have developed a digital ecosystem, so we call it DPI. Now what happens in it, there is UPI, Aarogya Setu, Digilocker and Cowin app, that is, all the apps with open source API which we promote for the public. We use these apps to store and collect public data, and this is what we call India Stack. Anyone can copy it, and if anyone wants, they can read its code and, if there is any mistake, can report it.

India Stack is a set of open API platforms and public digital infrastructure that enables presence-less, paperless, and cashless service delivery. It consists of the following core components:

1. Consent Layer – Provides a digital framework for users to securely share personal data and grant consent digitally to service providers. This includes Aadhaar e-KYC for paperless onboarding and e-Sign for digital signatures.
2. Presence-less Layer – Enables remote biometric authentication via Aadhaar. This allows digital identity verification without physical presence.
3. Cashless Layer – Enables digital financial transactions via platforms like UPI, IMPS, and AePS. This allows users to send and receive money digitally without cash.
4. Paperless Layer – Digitizes documents and records via platforms like DigiLocker and E-Sign. This enables paperless workflows by storing documents securely in the cloud.

So our India Stack is prepared with these four layers. India Stack is the thing which is very much supporting in making our economy cashless. Now, the Central Government is a significant soft and diplomatic power, which we showcase multiple times through projects. Look, in front of these countries, we demonstrate how much technology we possess. We can export these services, but we won’t do it for free. For that, we will engage in some alliances, conduct some treaties, or participate in some events. There is a tech-oriented relationship in international relations, so we will fulfill that. Please fulfill your commitment, and we will fulfill ours.

Now our UPI launched in France. Here, the highest number of tourists come, and it will expand beyond France to America and Africa. After that, it will further spread across Europe, and the entire world can see that India has covered all Indian subordinates seamlessly and effectively at a very affordable and convenient cost through a single mechanism developed by NPCI.