CBO, India’s NPCI sign MoU to explore E-payment linkages

Within the framework of commercial and economic cooperation between the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of India, the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday, October 4, 2022, with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to study the possibility of linking some payment systems between the two countries.

The MoU was signed by Tahir bin Salim al Amri, CBO’s Executive President and Ritesh Shukla, CEO of International Payments Limited, a subsidiary of NPCI.

The MoU aims at studying the possibility of connecting the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and RuPay Card used in India with similar payment systems and services in the Sultanate of Oman. In order to maximise the mutual benefits for the two countries, the proposed cooperation will also consider the possibility of using Debit Cards issued by the banks in Oman to be used in India through OmanNet, as well as using the Mobile Payment System.

The signing ceremony was attended by a high-level delegation from India, headed by V Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, and in the presence of Amit Narang, Ambassador of India to the Sultanate of Oman and other officials from the Indian Government, as well as the CBO.

Al Amri explained that this cooperation aims to explore linking payment systems and services between the two countries, adding that this step will undoubtedly benefit the citizens of the two countries. He further added that this MoU will also contribute to the knowledge transfer in payment systems domain between the two countries, as well as keeping abreast of global developments in e-payment systems.

A press statement from the Indian Embassy explained that Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood. It also caters to the “Peer to Peer” collect request which can be scheduled and paid as per requirement and convenience.

In the month of September 2022, the number of transactions on India’s UPI platform crossed 6.78 billion amounting to over INR 11.16 trillion (1 Omani Rial is equivalent to INR 211.66).