A Unified Payment Interface or UPI is a real-time payment interface that uses a specialized network for making instant payments.
It is the most successful instant payment system in the world and is also the faster using which you can easily make payments.
It is developed by the National Payment Corporation of India or NPCI which comes under the Reserve Bank of India.
The success of the UPI reached its height when various countries were interested in getting the UPI technology into their countries. The latest addition to the list of countries allowing UPI Payments is the United Arab Emirates.
Now, Indian tourists or NRIs living in UAE can make use of their UPI app to make transactions in UAE. You do not need to have a local UAE bank account to do that, you can make payments easily using the Indian Bank account only.
In this article, we will further discuss how to use the UPI in the United Arab Emirates, Process, Application Download, etc.
List of UPI Apps available to Download for using the UPI App in the United Arab Emirates
The following is the list of apps available to download for using the UPI App in the United Arab Emirates-
- PhonePe
- Paytm
- BHIM app
- MobiKwik
- Google pay
- Uber
- Chillr
- Paytm Payments Bank
- Various banks have their own UPI payments system available on their Mobile Banking app. You can also use those apps to access the UPI payments system
Prerequisites for Using UPI App
The following are the Prerequisites for using the UPI App-
- The user must have a Bank Account with any of the banks in India
- The user must have their Mobile Number registered with the bank
- The mobile number SIM registered with the bank must be installed on your Smartphone you want to use UPI on
- The merchant, vendor, or person accepting UPI must have NEOPAY enabled
How to Use UPI App to make Payments in the United Arab Emirates?
You can follow these steps to use the UPI Apps to make payments in the United Arab Emirates-
- Download and install your favorite UPI app on your Smartphone and open the app
- Now, the app will ask for a few permissions which you’ll have to grant
- After that, an SMS will be sent from your mobile number to the bank servers and confirmation of your mobile number will be made
- After sending the SMS, your registration for the UPI will begin and you’ll have to now select the bank account where your account is hosted
- After selecting the bank, your account will be automatically selected and you’ll have to enter the debit card details
- Now, you’ll have to set 4 digit UPI MPIN using which you can login as well as make payment
- After setting up your MPIN, your account can be used for making payments
- You can use a QR code, Acc. Number + Bank IFSC Code or MMID to make payments using the UPI App which has UPI enabled payment system
FAQ
You can make UPI payments across India, and when it comes to international payments in other countries, then you can use UPI in UAE, Nepal, Bhutan, France (in Advanced Stages), Saudi Arabia, Singapore, etc.
The exchange rates for the UPI payments in foreign countries will be real-time exchange rates and the amount in your Indian Bank account will be converted as per the exchange rate of that particular time.
Currently, there are no charges for using the UPI payments, however, the international arm of NPCI i.e. NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) might charge for the payment when it comes to international payments.
As per the Google pay terms, No, you cannot use the Google Pay app to make payments in UAE. Google Pay can only be used if you are geographically located in India with an Indian Phone Number. However, things might change with the global acceptance of UPI payments.
