India’s UPI success story goes international again, with Japan on the horizon. Per Nikkei Asia, NPCI’s alliance with NTT Data sets the stage for UPI pilots in Japan by 2026, enabling Indian tourists’ QR-based payments linked to home accounts.
The push responds to surging visits: 315,000 Indians in 2025, a 35% rise. With McKinsey eyeing 90 million Indian outbound travelers by 2040 (from 13 million in 2022), cross-border payment ease is crucial.
UPI, a 2016 government brainchild, powers daily life with unified QR transactions across apps. FY2024 saw 185.8 billion volumes, up 42%; IMF calls it Earth’s premier real-time system.
Deployed in eight countries—Bhutan to UAE—NPCI aids more like Peru. Domestically, UPI drove 58% retail payments in 2024, forecasted at 76% by 2030 versus cash’s 7%.
NTT Data’s role is pivotal, leveraging its service to 6 million Indian merchants to integrate Japan. UPI’s shared ecosystem fuels fintech growth, and this trial signals its potential as a global standard, simplifying finances for India’s traveling masses.