In July 2025, the NPCI International Payments Limited(NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has announced the inclusion of 13 additional Indian banks into the Unified Payment Interface (UPI)-PayNow, payment linkage between India and Singapore.
- This addition, effective from July 17, 2025, takes the total number of participating Indian banks to 19, significantly easing cross-border remittances for individuals, including migrant workers and students in Singapore.
Note: PayNow is a Singaporean real-time payment system that allows users to send and receive money instantly using mobile numbers, National Registration Identity Card(NRIC) /Foreign Identification Number(FIN), or Unique Entity Number(UEN) or Virtual Payment Address(VPA).
Indian Banks on UPI–PayNow :
i.As of July 2025, 19 Indian banks have been integrated into the UPI–PayNow linkage.
ii.These include leading public and private sector banks such as:
Bank of Baroda(BoB), Bank of India(BoI), Canara Bank, Central Bank of India (CBI), Federal Bank Limited, HDFC Bank Limited, IDFC FIRST Bank, IndusInd Bank, Karur Vysya Bank (KVB), Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL), Punjab National Bank (PNB), South Indian Bank (SIB), and UCO Bank, Axis Bank Limited, DBS Bank India, ICICI Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), and State Bank of India (SBI).
About UPI-PayNow:
i.The UPI-PayNow service was launched as a joint initiative between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
ii.This initiative enables the account-holders of the participating banks and financial institutions in India and Singapore to perform cross-border remittance transactions through the UPI-PayNow linkage.
- It allows users to send or receive money efficiently via a mobile number or Virtual Payment Address(VPA).
iii.UPI-PayNow is the world’s first cloud-based, real-time cross-border payment system, meaning that it uses cloud technology, instead of physical servers or traditional banking infrastructure.
iv.Apart from the cross-border remittance, the UPI is also accepted at select merchant outlets in Singapore via Quick Response (QR) code payments.
v.The recipient in India can receive remittances (inward remittance) from Singapore in their accounts held with any of the selected 19 banks through their preferred UPI-enabled apps.
v.Outward remittances from India to Singapore are available through Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, KVB, ICICI Bank, Indian Bank, IOB and SBI.
About NPCI International Payments Limited(NIPL):
Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Ritesh Shukla
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Established – 2020
