A UAE domestic card scheme based on India’s RuPay is set to become operational by mid 2024. The framework will allow seamless electronic transactions not just for governments and businesses but for individuals as well.

This will mark a new era in India-UAE technology partnership and transform the country’s payment system, according to Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry. This is, in fact, the first step towards internationalisation of the RuPay card and is a gamechanger in integrating the businesses of India and the Arab nation.

It also aligns with India’s aims at globalising the rupee to reduce dollar demand. To the UAE’s advantage, the initiative is expected to foster e-commerce and digital transactions in the country, support its digitisation agenda, encourage alternate payment options and enhance the UAE’s competitiveness as a global payments leader.

An agreement to this effect was inked by NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), a subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and Al Etihad Payments (AEP) for the implementation of the domestic card scheme (DCS) in the UAE.

It goes well with NIPL’s aim to offer its expertise to assist other countries in establishing cost-efficient and secure payment systems.

The offering has been made to several countries, and the UAE and Singapore have been first to accept it, added Goyal. With trading, payments and remittances being done directly between the Dirham and the Indian Rupee, the costs of transaction will reduce. Add to this its low cost and speed of transactions, and RuPay in the UAE is set to become an efficient and unique system.

The agreement will enable UAE cards to be used in India, and RuPay cards issued in India to be used in the Arab country. “This will really integrate our economies, encourage travel between the two countries and help people truly enjoy the fruits of this beautiful partnership added,” said Goyal. “Focus is on making rupee-dirham trade a big success,” Goyal added.

RuPay, an Indian indigenous equivalent of Mastercard or Visa, is a global card payment network, and has wide acceptance at shops, ATMs and online platforms, with debit, credit and prepaid options. It accounts for over 60 per cent of the total cards issued in India, with more than 750 million RuPay cards in circulation.