Axis Bank enables real time cross border transactions using UPI

Axis Bank on February 21 said it has enabled cross-border transactions in real-time using the unified payments interface (UPI) network. With this, the lender will act as the settlement bank for peer-to-peer (P2P) foreign inward remittance transactions initiated through PayNow by the Liquid Group in Singapore, the bank said in a release.

“A remitter in Singapore using the mobile application of Liquid Group (a non-bank financial institution) can now initiate a remittance by entering the UPI ID of the intended recipient in India,” the bank said.

The partnership will allow users from both countries to make seamless money transfers, Axis Bank said, adding the transactions settled through the UPI PayNow network are available 24X7 on a real-time basis.

Currently, the lender will settle these transactions to beneficiaries holding an account with or are registered on the UPI app of the six banks – the State Bank of India (SBI), Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Indian Bank, ICICI, DBS and Axis Bank, the release said.

The cross-border UPI transaction initiative is a part of the joint initiative between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to develop cross-border payments between India and Singapore.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong on February 21 launched the cross-border linkage between the two nations using their respective Fast Payment Systems – India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Singapore’s PayNow.