The Philippines will adopt India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) technology as part of a push to modernize the country’s digital payments system, starting with faster government aid disbursements through Land Bank of the Philippines and potentially extending to cross-border payments.
The technology transfer was agreed during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s meeting with NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL), the international arm of India’s National Payments Corporation of India, in New Delhi on Sept. 12.
“During our meeting with President Marcos Jr. and NPCI International, we agreed to bring India’s UPI technology to the Philippines,” Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said.
The initial priority is government-to-person payments, with UPI capabilities potentially allowing LandBank to distribute financial assistance and other government benefits faster and more efficiently.
“This will allow LandBank to distribute government financial aid much faster and make daily digital transactions easier and cheaper for ordinary Filipinos,” Roque said.
The government is also exploring a link between UPI and QR Ph, the Philippines’ interoperable QR payment system. This could allow foreign visitors to pay local merchants more easily and facilitate cross-border transactions.
For micro, small and medium enterprises, the proposed connectivity could reduce payment costs while giving them easier access to foreign customers, particularly in tourism and other consumer-facing businesses.
“Connecting this system with QR Ph will enable our local enterprises to easily accept payments from foreign tourists and international buyers,” Roque said.
The initiative would bring a payments technology already deployed at massive scale in India into the Philippine financial system, potentially broadening the country’s digital-payment infrastructure beyond domestic transactions.
Discussions also covered upgrades to the national clearing network through the newly merged Payments Network of the Philippines Inc. and BancNet, as well as ongoing engagements involving InstaPay and GCash.
The Department of Trade and Industry said the government would coordinate with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, LandBank and PNPI/BancNet to fast-track technical implementation.
The planned adoption puts UPI at the center of a wider effort to make digital payments faster and more interoperable, from government cash assistance to purchases by foreign visitors.
