Do you use PhonePe? Do you have any plans to visit the UAE? Then you should hear this news. Users of the PhonePe App may now use the app to pay with UPI at a variety of retail establishments, restaurants, and tourist and recreational destinations in the United Arab Emirates. To make the payments, they must scan the QR code. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) facilitates these types of transactions.

The cooperation between NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) and Mashreq Bank, a significant bank in the United Arab Emirates, makes this collaboration possible. Indian tourists may now easily utilize UPI for transactions thanks to Mashreq's relationship with NEOPAY terminals, the merchant service division of Mashreq Bank, which has made it possible for UPI applications to be accepted as a form of payment.

To make payments easier, non-resident individuals (NRIs) with UAE mobile phones can also download the PhonePe app and link their current NRE and NRO accounts. NRIs utilize NRE and NRO accounts to oversee their "foreign investments in India." According to a corporate release, this attempts to improve the simplicity and ease of transactions for the Indian diaspora in the United Arab Emirates.

Customers may now trade using UPI, a payment mechanism they are acquainted with, thanks to this agreement, stated Ritesh Pai, CEO of PhonePe's International Payments division. This partnership makes it possible for transactions to be completed seamlessly, giving guests a more pleasurable and frictionless experience.

"We are delighted to collaborate with PhonePe to offer yet another new payment solution for Indian tourists and visitors in the UAE, helping further cement the already strong financial relations between the two countries," said Vibhor Mundhada, CEO of NEOPAY at Mashreq. 

After the corridor for inbound remittances is activated, PhonePe will also provide services for outward remittances. In essence, inward remittance refers to the transfer of funds from overseas to India.

In India, there are already other payment processors like Google Pay and Paytm. Google Pay began offering UPI services to users traveling overseas in January of this year. The UAE, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom are among the nations.

India and the United Arab Emirates signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in February of this year, agreeing to establish a standard framework that would allow both nations to settle transactions using local currencies. UPI was also presented in Abu Dhabi by President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India has a sizable domestic UPI transaction base. According to PIB news release, "India is the country with the highest digital transaction, accounting for nearly 46 per cent share, as per the 2022 data." The nation has also been attempting to expand the UPI internationally. The nations that accept UPI include Sri Lanka, Mauritius, France, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Bhutan, and Nepal.