New Delhi, India and Spain have agreed to advance technical discussions on enabling interoperability between India’s Unified Payments Interface and Spain’s Bizum digital-payments platform, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.
The understanding was reached during Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to Spain, where he held discussions with Carlos Cuerpo Caballero, Spain’s First Vice-President and Minister of Economy, Trade and Business, and Jordi Hereu Boher, Minister of Industry and Tourism.
The proposed connection would seek to enable users of the two payment systems to conduct cross-border digital transactions more conveniently. If implemented, the interoperability could support payments for travellers and businesses and strengthen financial connectivity between the two countries.
The two sides have only agreed to continue technical discussions. No implementation agreement, operational timeline or launch date for the UPI–Bizum linkage has been announced.
Alongside digital payments, India and Spain discussed investment facilitation, professional mobility and opportunities for joint investments in Latin America. The two countries identified automobiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles, renewable energy, tourism and infrastructure as potential areas for expanded cooperation.
Goyal proposed holding an annual India–Spain Joint Commission meeting with business participation, while Spain proposed establishing a dedicated “India Team” to facilitate bilateral engagement. The minister also presented a “10×10×10” vision aimed at increasing trade, investment and tourism between the two countries tenfold over the next decade.
The development formed part of Goyal’s five-day visit to Spain, Belgium, Finland and Estonia from July 13 to 18. The visit focused on expanding India’s economic and technology partnerships with Europe and strengthening business engagement following the conclusion of India–EU Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
UPI, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India, enables instant bank-to-bank transactions through mobile applications and has become the central component of India’s digital-payments infrastructure. Bizum is a widely used mobile-payment service in Spain that facilitates instant account-to-account transfers through participating banks. The proposed interoperability remains subject to further technical discussions and approvals by the relevant institutions.
