UPI ‘One World’ Wallet Lets NRIs, Tourists Make Mobile Payments in India

Foreign visitors will have to set up their wallets at designated touchpoints at airports, hotels, and money exchange offices.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which administers the widely-used UPI framework, has announced that its ‘One World’ wallet app will now be available to all foreign visitors and NRIs, allowing them to make digital payments by simply scanning a QR code or entering the recipient’s phone number. 

Phone-based digital transactions have really caught on in India over the past few years, becoming the default method of payment for many people whether at malls and restaurants or kiosks and roadside vendors. The UPI framework, which enables payments via QR codes and phone numbers, is interoperable between bank apps and popular third-party apps such as Google Pay and PhonePe, making transactions easy and instantaneous. 

It has so far been difficult for non-Indians to use UPI and other popular payments apps without an Indian phone number and bank account. NPCI says it has now solved this problem by allowing visitors to load money into the One World wallet, which can then be used to make payments with.

There are no enrollment or transaction fees for visitors using the One World wallet. However, onboarding will be possible only through approved partners, which currently are only IDFC First Bank and Transcorp. After downloading the issuer’s app, visitors will need to register their identity by showing their passport and valid travel documents. An international mobile phone number will be associated with the wallet. Registration touchpoints will be established at airports, hotels, and other establishments that exchange currencies. 

Users can then load money into their wallets using either foreign exchange or a credit or debit card, according to the NPCI’s published guidelines. The money can then be spent or transferred to any vendor or person using the usual UPI methods - QR code, phone number, saved contact, or unique UPI ID.

Transactions are instantaneous and secure, and the issuer apps will allow One World wallet users to track their spending through a transaction log. Unused money can be withdrawn at the end of the visitor’s trip, and will be transferred back to the original payment instrument used to load their wallet. 

The One World wallet was made available to G20 delegates when India hosted a global summit of world leaders last year, and has also been offered to attendees of the ongoing World Heritage Committee in New Delhi. According to the NPCI, over 602 banks are currently live on the UPI platform and 1.38 crore transactions were made in June 2024, amounting to a total Rupee value of Rs. 20.07 lakh crore.