Indians can now pay in UAE through RuPay card or contactless application
Network International, Middle East and Africa’s (MEA) leading digital commerce facilitator, has announced plans to increase merchant acceptance of India’s local payment system, RuPay. With this latest development, Indians can now pay in UAE using a RuPay card or contactless application.
About RuPay
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) operates RuPay, India’s first-of-its-kind global card payment network. RuPay recorded 1 billion transactions in 2019 across both online and offline payment modalities, with over 635 million cards issued to far. As per NPCI, it is the ideal example of an unrivalled self-sufficient card payments network with cutting-edge capabilities that have helped it become a successful interoperable card. RuPay is also constantly innovating through disruptive use-cases including contactless payments via NFC and other developing payment technologies like as wearable’s, tokenization, and so on.
Mercury Payments Services, the UAE’s first domestic card payment scheme, is driving the collaboration between NPCI, an umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems in India, and Network International, the UAE’s largest merchant acquirer. Indian travellers will be able to pay at Network’s wide merchant network across the seven emirates using their RuPay card or contactless app.
Indians spend a lot in the UAE
India is one of the most important source markets for travel to the UAE because of its proximity, with approximately 2 million tourists registered from the Indian subcontinent in 2019. In the next years, a combination of the UAE’s world-class shopping facilities, single-digit flight schedules, and similar cultural practises will continue to promote travel from India to the Middle East, according to a recent Global Data analysis. On roughly 2 billion domestic and foreign journeys in 2018, Indian travellers spent approximately $94 billion on transportation, hotel, and consumption.
Statements from NPCI and Network International
“We are thrilled to be among the first to enable Indian tourists to the UAE to pay using a trusted and popular payment option every time they make a purchase at their favourite retailer here,” said Ahmed Bin Tarraf, Network International’s Regional President for the UAE. This partnership demonstrates Network’s ongoing commitment to providing new options for our merchants by improving the way their customers pay, as well as expanding the UAE’s financial ecosystem by increasing adoption of new payment methods.”
“NIPL is focused on revolutionising payments and driving digital public goods around the globe with our cutting-edge technology and innovation,” said Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL). To provide seamless user experiences, we are committed to expanding the global acceptance network of our indigenous card scheme, RuPay. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Network International, which will allow Indian travellers to transact on the platform while also giving UAE merchants access to the best-in-class payment network.”
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