Indian tourists who are planning to visit Japan will soon be able to make digital payments in the foreign country using their Unified Payments Interface (UPI) systems, as the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has signed an MoU with NTT DATA, a digital business and technology services firm.

NPCI‘s subsidiary, NPCI International Payments Ltd., signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NTT DATA’s Japanese counterpart on 7 October 2025, as the initiative aims to facilitate merchant transactions nationwide.

What will this initiative bring?

As part of this agreement, NTT DATA Japan merchants will be able to accept UPI payments, which will, in turn, enable Indian travellers visiting Japan to make digital UPI payments by scanning the QR codes on their mobile devices.

NPCI and NTT DATA’s collaboration aims to make digital transactions easier and reduce their dependence on cash, credit cards, or other forex cards while people are travelling.

This move also aims to access the potential of UPI for merchants and consumers in the Japanese market.

“By initiating the partnership for UPI acceptance in Japan, we aim to make shopping and payments more convenient for Indian tourists, while helping Japanese merchants capture new opportunities,” said Masanori Kurihara, the head of payments at NTT Data.

Expansion of UPI

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system was launched in India in 2016, and since then, it has changed the way people carry out digital payments and fostered financial inclusion in the nation.

According to NPCI data for September 2025, India recorded a total of 19.63 billion UPI transactions worth ₹24.9 trillion that were processed.

Mint reported earlier that UPI volumes increased 31% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. The report also mentioned that the total value of the UPI transactions stood at ₹24.85 trillion as of August 2025.

Rupay’s partnership with Japan’s JCB International

In efforts to boost the international travel experience for RuPay JCB cardholders, the Indian global card payment network RuPay announced a partnership with Japan’s JCB Co. Ltd subsidiary JCB International.

This move will enable the RuPay JCB cardholders to receive 25% cashback for all Point of Sale (POS) transactions at stores in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and the Philippines till 31 December 2025.

“RuPay’s partnership with JCB continues to create meaningful value for our cardholders as they travel abroad. With the festive and year-end holiday season being one of the busiest periods for international travel, this special cashback program ensures that our customers can enjoy greater savings and convenience across five vibrant countries,” said Kunal Kalawatia, the chief of products and marketing at NPCI.