KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 12): Malaysians will soon be able to pay for food and shopping with QR codes in India thanks to a planned linkage between DuitNow QR and Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
An agreement to enable the cross-border QR payments between Malaysia and India was signed between Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd, also known as PayNet, and NPCI International Payments Ltd of India.
The first phase will allow Indian travellers to Malaysia to use their UPI-enabled apps at supported DuitNow QR touchpoints nationwide. In the second phase, Malaysians visiting India will be able to scan UPI QR codes and pay using banking apps or e-wallets at UPI-enabled merchants. The timeline was not disclosed.
“Once enabled, the linkage between Malaysia’s DuitNow QR and India’s UPI will strengthen payment connectivity for travellers, merchants, banks and the wider financial services ecosystem,” Paynet CEO Praveen Rajan said in a statement.
Malaysian visitors to India get free e-visas while Malaysia is targeting to welcome more than two million Indians with visa-free waiver and the Visit Malaysia Year campaign officially in full swing.
India is Malaysia’s largest South Asian trading partner with bilateral trade totalling over RM79 billion last year.
The collaboration with NPCI International “contributes to broader trade and economic activity between Malaysia and India,” said Praveen.
For NPCI International, the partnership with PayNet will offer travellers a familiar, secure, and convenient payment experience.
“This collaboration reinforces our commitment to simplifying cross-border payments while strengthening digital and economic connectivity between the two countries,” said Ritesh Shukla, managing director and CEO of NPCI International.