India is moving closer to making digital payments more accessible for international travellers by simplifying the Know Your Customer (KYC) process for foreigners who want to use its popular real-time payment system. The initiative focuses on streamlining Unified Payments Interface (UPI)’s One World feature, which allows visitors from other countries to make cashless payments during their stay.
Currently, foreign visitors must undergo a physical KYC verification to link their UPI accounts before they can start using digital payments — a requirement that has limited widespread adoption due to the need for in-person document checks. The retail payments body behind UPI, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), is now finalising a digital onboarding process that could eliminate this hurdle.
Easing the Onboarding Process Under the proposed digital process, international travellers would be able to:
- Download an app and register themselves after entering India.
- Upload scanned copies of their passports as part of the KYC requirements.
- Complete the verification digitally without needing a physical visit for onboarding.
This shift aims to reduce dependency on costly and logistically challenging physical verification teams, which many fintech firms have had to deploy in the past to serve foreign users.
RBI Approval Still Pending
NPCI has run a pilot of the digital KYC process for visitors from about 40 countries during events such as the India AI Impact Summit. Following successful trials, the body has now sought approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to roll it out more broadly. Once cleared by the central bank, the digital onboarding process could significantly boost the use of UPI among foreign tourists, professionals, and short-term visitors.
UPI One World: A Global Vision
The UPI One World initiative was launched at the 2023 G20 Summit and later extended to inbound travellers, but adoption was initially restrained because of the physical KYC requirement. The revamped digital process is designed to make UPI usage as seamless for visitors as it is for residents — reducing the need to carry cash or deal with foreign exchange hassles.
By easing entry barriers while maintaining regulatory oversight, India could further position its homegrown digital payment infrastructure as a global model — encouraging visitors from around the world to tap into UPI’s convenience during their stay.
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