India's UPI Going Global - What To Expect?

In this first episode of our new 'Unnamed' podcast, Caleb and Pankaj discuss the impact of UPI going Global.  UPI (Unified Payments Interface) is an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India. The interface facilitates inter-bank peer-to-peer and person-to-merchant transactions.  Currently, more than 15 countries have either adopted or are in process of adopting UPI. These include Singapore, Malaysia, France, Japan and Oman.  Recently because of ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, many of Russian banks were removed from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a financial system that enables seamless and speedy transmission of money across borders. This has resulted in Russian banks losing access to quick and easy transactions offered by SWIFT, causing payments for its agricultural and energy exports to be disrupted.  Now that banks had to communicate directly with one another, there were delays and additional expenses, which ultimately impacted the Russian government’s finances. According to estimates, the Russian economy is thought to have lost 10-15% of its GDP due to the SWIFT ban. The embargo also targeted $630 billion in Russian foreign exchange reserves.   This has started discussion that could their be alternative to SWIFT and if UPI can be that option.  Other important reason that India sees for the use of UPI is, Remittances. India receives more remittances than any other country in the world. In 2021 alone, the country received more than $87 billion in remittances. So, if in future, India is excluded from the SWIFT network, it would heavily impact Indians sending money back home.