Bank of Baroda launched UPI Global QR Payments (UPI Global Reverse Acceptance) on Wednesday, enabling international tourists, overseas Indians, and foreign wallet/payment application users from eligible countries to make payments across its UPI QR merchant network in India. According to reports from The Hindu BusinessLine, Mint, Moneycontrol, and Moneycontrol, this initiative allows international visitors to make international QR payments at BoB's UPI QR merchants using their home-country banking or payment applications, reducing the need to carry cash or exchange foreign currency. The system works similarly to how international visitors pay in their own country, with users able to scan a Bank of Baroda UPI QR code through their payment app and complete the transaction instantly.
The UPI Global Reverse Acceptance facilitates cross-border Person-to-Merchant (P2M) transactions in India for international visitors from countries participating in NPCI International's Global Payments ecosystem. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, Mint, Moneycontrol, and Moneycontrol, these countries include major international corridors such as Singapore, the UAE, Nepal, Bhutan, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, the USA, Qatar and France, among others. The initiative extends international QR payment acceptance across the Bank's merchant network, enhancing payment convenience for international visitors while giving its merchants access to a wider customer base through existing UPI QR codes. For tourists, this means fewer currency exchange counters, less cash to carry, and a checkout experience using an app they're already familiar with.
According to The Hindu BusinessLine, Mint, Moneycontrol, and Moneycontrol, Sanjay Mudaliar, Executive Director of BoB, stated that the introduction of UPI Global Reverse Acceptance is an important step towards making digital payments more accessible across borders. Mudaliar emphasized that by enabling international visitors to make merchant payments through payment applications they already use and are familiar with, the bank is enhancing convenience for travellers while creating new business opportunities for its merchants. The initiative strengthens BoB's merchant acquiring franchise and positions the bank to serve the growing demand for cross-border digital payment solutions, reflecting Bank of Baroda's commitment to innovation and building a globally interoperable digital payments ecosystem. Bank of Baroda frames the launch as part of the Government of India's Digital India agenda, positioning UPI as a platform not just for domestic transactions but as a bridge for global digital payment interoperability.
The launch comes as UPI has witnessed remarkable growth, with transaction value surging from ₹0.07 lakh crore in FY17 to around ₹314 lakh crore in FY26, representing a more than 4,000-fold increase over the decade. As per Mint, UPI, launched on August 25, 2016, has transformed India's digital payments landscape, with experts viewing it as one of the most successful pillars of India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), providing an interoperable, real-time payments platform that enables seamless peer-to-peer and peer-to-merchant transactions through a single application.
