Retail payments regulator NPCI creates subsidiary to take UPI, RuPay global

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has set up a subsidiary, called the NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), to take its digital payments platform Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and RuPay card global.

The unit will be headed by former Mastercard executive Ritesh Shukla, who has been appointed as the CEO of NIPL, as per a statement. He is expected to lead business development and drive profitability for NIPL, while deploying NPCI’s products in the international markets. Former HDFC Bank executive Rina Penkar will assist Shukla in the role as head of international business for product development.

The release also names Anubhav Sharma as the head of international business for partnership, business development and marketing as part of NIPL’s core team. Sharma who was the head of UPI during his tenure at NPCI had joined Paytm Payments Bank as vice president in August. NPCI confirmed that he had joined back to be a part of NIPL.

“We are glad to launch our subsidiary NIPL to take our unique payment system to global markets. It is also a matter of pride for NPCI that several countries such as Asia, Africa and the Middle East have displayed interest towards replicating our model in their own nations,” Dilip Asbe, managing director and CEO at NPCI, said in the statement.

Additionally, NIPL looks to create an acceptance network for RuPay, UPI and other products owned and operated by the NPCI, the statement said. It will also offer technological wherewithal for digital payments with partner nations, it added.

“NIPL will leverage the technical expertise, capabilities and experiences of NPCI to pioneer tailor made innovative solutions to help countries fast track their advancement,” the NPCI statement said.

The announcement comes at a time when UPI transactions have clocked over 1 billion transactions since May. NPCI also announced building a tier-4 national data centre in Chennai earlier this year.

An umbrella organisation for all retail payments and settlement systems in India, NPCI was incorporated as a non-profit in 2008 by the Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banks Association (IBA) with ten core promoter banks. In 2016, it included an additional 56 member banks.