Colombo:

PhonePe on Wednesday announced a partnership with LankaPay to allow its users to pay using UPI across Sri Lanka.

At an event to mark the collaboration, PhonePe said its app users travelling to Sri Lanka can make payments using UPI across LankaPay QR merchants.

The transactions will be facilitated by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and LankaPay National Payment Network.

Users can scan LankaQR code to make secure and quick payments without carrying cash or calculating currency conversions. The amount will be debited in INR, showing the currency exchange rate.

PhonePe’s CEO, International Payments, Ritesh Pai, said the collaboration with LankaPay offers unparalleled convenience to Indian tourists who can now use a familiar and secure payment method while travelling and paying across LankaQR merchant points.

“We are excited about the potential of this collaboration that would enhance payment experience to Indian tourists and business travellers during their stay in Sri Lanka and also provide the merchants with a cost-effective proposition to card payments,” LankaPay CEO Channa de Silva said.

Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe mentioned about the collaboration’s capacity to unlock new opportunities, enhance competitiveness and the benefits that it would bring to Sri Lankan merchants.

Speaking at the event, Santosh Jha, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, said the UPI launch is an important part of a larger goal for both countries to collaborate through a digital partnership.

“India is also supporting Sri Lanka in the development of its Unique Digital Identity Program and other components of the Digital Stack that has immense transformative potential for Sri Lanka and the bilateral economic partnership,” Jha added.

Launched in August 2016, the PhonePe digital payments app has more than 520 million registered users and a digital payments acceptance network of 38 million merchants. PhonePe processes over 230 million daily transactions.

The PhonePe Group has also expanded into financial services and consumer tech businesses.

There was also a panel discussion on ‘The Future of Digital Payments in Sri Lanka: Opportunities for Sri Lankan Businesses’ as part of the event.

National Savings Bank GM/CEO Shashi Kandambi, Hatton National Bank PLC COO Sanjay Wijemanne, LOLC Finance PLC Chairman Conrad Dias, and Dialog Finance Chairperson PLC Renuka Fernando discussed ways by which businesses can leverage digital payment technologies and tap into a wider market to stay competitive in an evolving economic landscape.

Key stakeholders from Sri Lanka, including representatives from the banking and tourism sectors, payment system providers and business associations, attended the event.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

India will again delay caps on market share for a popular digital payments method, two sources told Reuters, benefiting Google Pay and Walmart-backed PhonePe as the authorities prioritise growth over concerns about market concentration.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the quasi-regulator, will extend by as much as two years a year-end deadline to cap at 30% the market share of any company processing payments via the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), the sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

PhonePe’s share of UPI payments has risen to 48.3% from 37% in April 2020, while Google Pay’s share has declined to 37.4% from 44%, according to NPCI data. The two processed a combined 11.5 billion transactions in April, the data showed.

NPCI and Google Pay declined to comment. PhonePe did not respond to an email seeking comment.

India launched UPI in 2016 but barred companies from charging for the instant digital payments service in an effort to promote online transactions and reduce the use of cash in Asia’s third-largest economy.

Because they cannot charge for it, India’s banks and others like Meta-owned WhatsApp and Amazon Pay have not pushed UPI-based payments aggressively, leaving authorities worried about a concentration risk.

While their apps do not earn money from the payments, PhonePe and Google Pay have been able to use their UPI customer base to sell services such as loans and insurance.

NPCI, which has a regulatory mandate from the central bank, announced the 30% cap in 2020 but later extended the deadline by two years to the end of 2024.

The deadline will have to be extended again, said one of the sources, as it is not possible for PhonePe and Google Pay to reduce their market shares without hurting UPI payments growth.

A final decision on the extension will be communicated closer to the deadline, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because they are not allowed to speak to the media.

NPCI had hoped for more competition when WhatsApp was permitted to offer UPI-based payments in February 2020, but the company had just 0.2% market share as of April.

India’s Paytm, with the third-highest share, has experienced a decline in payments processed through its platforms after regulators placed curbs on a group entity.

Payment firms want the market-share cap removed, asking NPCI to let them charge for UPI payments to encourage competition, said an official at a payment company.

The government will decide whether to allow firms to charge for UPI payments, the two sources said, but one said NPCI does not favour removing the share cap.

The volume of UPI transactions rose 49.5% in April from a year earlier, less than the 54% rise logged March.

The central bank met on Tuesday with industry executives to brainstorm on ways to expand the UPI user base, which was about 300 million users and 50 million merchants late last year, according to the most recent data.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)