India and Philippines discuss UPI, fintech cooperation
Mint in August, NPCI International CEO Ritesh Shukla stated that interoperability with the payments platforms of foreign partners will enable remittances as well as merchant payments. He also spoke of plans to double the number of countries where UPI is live.
India and the Philippines signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on financial technologies in June. “The MOU envisages the constitution of a Joint Working Group (JWG) co-chaired at the Undersecretary level from the Ministries of Finance, and comprising senior representatives from Foreign and IT Ministries, Central Banks, financial sector regulatory institutions and other related agencies as members.
The JWG would identify concrete measures for partnership in innovative technologies; fintech industry, digital governance; payment linkages; creation of interoperable APIs; financial inclusion and other related areas," reads a press release from India’s Embassy in Manila. Finance minister Benjamin Diokno, who was present at the signing of the MoU stated that the focus should be on “including development of fintech solutions across business and financial sectors; creation of inter-operable standards for Application Programming Interface (API) thereby strengthening digital governance; promoting use of digital signatures across borders and mainstreaming digital fund transfer platforms, among others." India’s Ambassador to the Philippines, Shambhu Kumaran, batted for the ‘India Stack’ Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) platforms.
This development could make it easier for Indian workers in the Philippines to send money home. “The Indian community in the Philippines, according to the Bureau of Immigration, is estimated to be about 130,000.
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