The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), on Monday, announced the One World UPI wallet for international travellers coming to India. The wallet offers the convenience of making UPI payments without requiring an Indian SIM card or an Indian bank account and is based on the technology called Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI). According to NPCI, "International travellers can organise their financial needs using UPI One World. It allows for convenient loading and enables the transfer of any unused balance back to the original payment source. By enabling foreign travellers to experience the real-time payments system developed by India, we are taking a significant stride towards creating a more interconnected global digital payments ecosystem." One World UPI wallet was first introduced in 2023 during the G20 India summit and is now being rolled out. It is essentially a prepaid wallet, which allows travellers to send money with ease and also removes the hassle of exchanging money with zero transaction and onboarding fees. To get on board with One World UPI, a user has to follow a know-your-customer (KYC) procedure, which requires details like a passport, visa, and an international phone number. The One World UPI is currently available from NPCI partners such as IDFC First Bank and Transcorp. Interested travellers can get on board the service from select airports and merchant stores. How to load money into a One World UPI wallet? One can load money to their One World UPI wallet using a credit or a debit card, and one can also exchange money at select counters with the help of forex experts. As of now, there is no information on whether there is a limit on how much money one can load into the wallet, or if there is an option to send back the money to the original account.
