On 31 May, the Prime Minister of India Mr Narendra Modi launched
three Indian mobile payment apps in Singapore at a business event aimed at globalisation
of the country's digital payment platforms.
Mr Narendra Modi at the 'Business, Innovation
and Community Event', where digital platform was the focus, launched three
digital payment schemes, including the international debut of Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), RuPay and a new app-based rupee
remittance mode of the State Bank of India's Singapore branch.
The launch marks the
collaboration of the two countries through a cross- border digital payment
system.
The RuPay digital payments system is
linked to Singapore's 33-year-old Network for
Electronic Transfers (NETS). RuPay users will be able to make payments at all NETS
acceptance points across Singapore. Users of Singapore NETS will be able
to make online purchases on the National Payments
Corporation of India (NPCI) e-commerce merchant website, using 2.8 million RuPay
point-of-sale terminals in India.
Among several announcements made
at the event, the Unified Payment
Interfaced (UPI) was launched for the first time internationally.
During the event, the Indian Prime
Minister Mr Narendra Modi discussed the close cultural, political and economic relations
between India and Singapore, “RuPay, BHIM and UPI; it is natural for these to
be launched in Singapore. Together, we can build a great economic partnership
of the new age," Mr Narendra Modi said.
Singapore Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien
Loong noted, "We have launched initial link for our payment systems NETS
and RuPay. Indian tourists will be able to use
their RuPay cards for electronic payments at Changi airport and
selected operators across Singapore."
The launch is likely to create a multi-billion- dollar transactions as
some five million Indians travel to or stopover at Singapore,
internationalising RuPay beginning with the first cross border usage. According
to Mr Soma Sankara Prasad, the Country
Head for SBI in Singapore, the new feature of the SBI app will benefit
blue-collar workers the most. Using a Virtual
Payment Address (VPA), any savings account holder at SBI Singapore
can send remittances of up to IN ₹100,000 (around US $14,925). SBI has six
branches in Singapore as well as Auto Teller Machines (ATMs).
Mr Narendra Modi used
the occasion to state that both the countries have been able to successfully finish
the second review of a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement and added,
"We agreed this is not just our target and goal, but this only means to an
end and officials will soon start discussing how to reform and upgrade
this further."
As reported earlier, India and Singapore signed several agreements in
the fields of public service, digital security, narcotics regulation and
defence collaboration, including a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to
establish a Joint Working Group (JWG) in order to
strengthen financial ties.
On 3 June, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, visited
Indian Heritage Centre in Singapore where he bought a Madhubani painting, choosing to pay through a SBI RuPay card.
"Honourable Prime Minister of India, visited the Indian Heritage Centre in
Singapore, whose efforts are focused towards bringing the two great nations
Singapore and India closer. He purchased a splendid Madhubani painting using an
SBI RuPay card." the
SBI tweeted from its official
handle.
The Indian Prime Minister’s five day, three-country visit to Indonesia,
Malaysia and Singapore came to an end in Singapore on Saturday.