The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced separate partnerships with HSBC India and J.P. Morgan Payments to bring real-time foreign exchange conversion and settlement to cross-border Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions. Under these collaborations, Indian travelers using UPI abroad will be able to see the exact amount in rupees before confirming a payment, removing the uncertainty of fluctuating exchange rates. The move is the latest step in strengthening UPI’s international infrastructure as the payment system expands its footprint across multiple countries.
What Is NPCI and How International UPI Works
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India. It was established in December 2008 as a not-for-profit company under Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013, promoted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) . Headquartered in Mumbai, NPCI owns and operates several landmark payment systems including UPI, RuPay, IMPS, BHIM, NACH, and Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) .
UPI was launched in April 2016 and has since become the world’s largest real-time payment system by transaction volume. In March 2026 alone, UPI processed 22.64 billion transactions worth over 29.53 lakh crore domestically. The system allows instant fund transfers between bank accounts using a mobile phone.
For international use, UPI works through bilateral agreements with partner countries. When an Indian traveler scans a foreign merchant’s QR code, the amount is entered in the local currency. The system converts it using a foreign exchange rate and debits the user’s Indian bank account in rupees. Until now, the exchange rate applied was not visible to the user at the point of payment, creating uncertainty about the final cost. The forex spread charged could also vary significantly depending on the partner bank handling the conversion, leading to a lack of transparency in cross-border transactions.
How the Two Partnerships Work
Partnership with HSBC India
Under the agreement with HSBC India, the bank will act as the banking partner and provide real-time foreign exchange rates through a direct API integration. When a user makes a payment abroad, the system will fetch the live forex rate and display the exact amount in rupees on the payment screen before the transaction is confirmed. This eliminates the guesswork and ensures the traveler knows the precise cost upfront.
HSBC India’s global payments capabilities and extensive international network will support secure, 24x7 cross-border transactions. The solution also allows international merchants and financial institutions to receive payments in their local currencies while the end-to-end settlement process is handled seamlessly in the background.
Partnership with J.P. Morgan Payments
The collaboration with J.P. Morgan Payments connects the bank’s FX platform and API-based integration capabilities with NPCI’s UPI infrastructure. This enables real-time currency conversion and settlement across multiple currencies, giving Indian travelers greater flexibility when transacting in different countries.
Guhaprasath Rajagopal, Head of India Payments at J.P. Morgan Payments, stated that the collaboration reduces friction in cross-border payments while pairing UPI’s expanding reach with real-time FX capabilities and API-based integration. The partnership is designed to offer greater transparency, scale, and control across currencies and corridors.
An NPCI spokesperson described both collaborations as an important step toward enabling efficient forex conversion and real-time settlement for cross-border transactions, delivering transparent payment experiences for users while supporting the growing global acceptance of India’s digital public infrastructure.
UPI’s Expanding Global Footprint
UPI is currently accepted in 10 countries: Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Nepal, Bhutan, Mauritius, France, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Cambodia, and most recently Greece, which joined on June 30, 2026. A trial in Japan began on April 1, 2026, through a partnership with NTT Data.
| Country | Type of Integration | Year of Launch |
|---|---|---|
| Bhutan | QR-based merchant payments | 2021 |
| Singapore | UPI-PayNow linkage (P2P + merchant) | 2023 |
| UAE | QR-based merchant payments | 2023 |
| Nepal | QR-based merchant payments | 2024 |
| Mauritius | QR-based merchant payments | 2024 |
| France | QR-based merchant payments (Eiffel Tower, Galeries Lafayette) | 2024 |
| Sri Lanka | QR-based merchant payments | 2025 |
| Qatar | QR-based merchant payments | 2025 |
| Cambodia | QR-based merchant payments | 2025 |
| Greece | QR-based merchant payments (via Eurobank-NIPL partnership) | 2026 |
| Japan | Trial phase | 2026 |
Cross-border UPI adoption has grown rapidly. In the first nine months of FY26 alone, international UPI transactions reached nearly 1.49 million, almost double the 7.55 lakh transactions recorded in the entire FY25. The value of these transactions stood at 330.43 crore in FY26 compared to 258.53 crore in FY25. In FY24, just 37,060 international transactions worth 19.7 crore were recorded, showing a near 40-fold growth in volume over two years.
Beyond individual country agreements, NPCI is also exploring multilateral routes. India is participating in Project Nexus, a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) initiative that aims to interlink domestic instant payment systems across multiple countries, including India, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Additionally, NPCI has signed an agreement with PayNet of Malaysia in February 2026, enabling Indian travelers to pay at over 29 lakh DuitNow QR touchpoints in Malaysia.
What This Means for Indian Travelers
For Indian travelers using UPI abroad, the most immediate benefit is pricing transparency. Instead of discovering the converted amount only after the transaction is complete or in the bank statement, users will see the exact rupee amount on the payment screen before confirming. This makes budgeting easier and removes the anxiety of unexpected charges.
The partnerships address a key friction point in the cross-border UPI experience. Exchange rates applied to international transactions typically include a spread of 2 to 4 percent above the mid-market rate, similar to what forex cards charge. By making the applied rate visible in real time, travelers can make informed decisions and compare costs across payment methods.
The API-enabled digital infrastructure, backed by HSBC India’s global payments capabilities and J.P. Morgan’s FX platform, will support secure, 24x7 cross-border transactions. This means Indian travelers can use UPI at any hour, regardless of banking hours in the destination country.
Indian tourism abroad has been growing steadily, with countries like Japan welcoming over 3.15 lakh Indian visitors in 2025 alone, a 35 percent increase over the previous year. As UPI expands into more tourist destinations in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, the real-time forex feature will become increasingly valuable for the growing number of Indians traveling overseas.
NPCI has not yet announced a specific timeline for when the real-time forex feature will go live for end users or which UPI apps will integrate it first. However, the infrastructure partnerships are now in place, and the feature is expected to roll out in the coming months.
Key Takeaways
- The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has partnered with HSBC India and J.P. Morgan Payments to enable real-time forex conversion for international UPI transactions.
- Under the partnerships, users will see the exact rupee amount on the payment screen before confirming an overseas transaction, bringing pricing transparency.
- HSBC India will provide real-time FX rates through direct API integration, while J.P. Morgan Payments will enable multi-currency FX conversion and settlement.
- NPCI was established in 2008 under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, and is headquartered in Mumbai.
- UPI is now accepted in 10 countries including Singapore, UAE, France, and most recently Greece (June 2026), with a trial underway in Japan.
- Cross-border UPI transactions nearly doubled to 1.49 million in the first nine months of FY26, from 7.55 lakh in the entire FY25.
