India expands national payment network to Singapore: What’s in it for crypto?

cointelegraph.com:

India’s national payment network, called the unified payments interface (UPI), is expanding its services beyond Indian borders to Singapore. The cross-border connectivity between Singapore and India via their respective rapid payment systems, namely PayNow and the UPI. Shri Shaktikanta Das, governor of the Reserve Bank, and Mr Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, launched the facility through token transactions using the UPI-PayNow linkage.

The UPI-PayNow integration will allow users of the two nations to send money across borders quickly. It is possible to send or receive money from India using only a UPI-id, cellphone number, or Virtual Payment Address for money held in bank accounts or e-wallets (VPA). UPI's instant real-time payment system helps to transfer cash immediately via a mobile interface between the two bank accounts.

UPI goes Global!Since UPI was introduced as a payment system in India, it has revolutionised the lives of Indians, but in fact, India’s digital payment system is steadily becoming globally attractive & is being adopted by other countries.#indiafirst #IndiaSingaporeRelations pic.twitter.com/55sGh5bzbZ

In the beginning, outgoing remittances will be facilitated by the State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank, and ICICI Bank, while incoming remittances will be facilitated by Axis Bank and DBS India. DBS-Singapore and Liquid Group will provide the service to users in Singapore (a non-bank financial institution).

Related: The regulatory implications of India’s crypto transactions tax

ICICI Bank, a private sector bank in India is also part of the country's central bank digital currency program. India launched its CBDC pilot in two phases, one in