India strengthening mobile-payment ties with more countries, expanding digital currency efforts: RBI's T Rabi Shankar​​​

India is strengthening its cross-border mobile payment systems by partnering with multiple countries, as reported by Bloomberg. T Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), shared this update at a conference in Cebu, Philippines.

Sankar highlighted an existing arrangement with Sri Lanka and mentioned efforts underway with nations such as the UAE and other neighboring countries. Additionally, India maintains payment agreements with Bhutan and Nepal.

The RBI is collaborating with central banks in the ASEAN region to build an integrated platform for instant cross-border payments. India, recognized as an early adopter of a pilot central bank digital currency (CBDC), is assessing its impact on banking systems and monetary policy, the Bloomberg report stated.


RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has extended technical support to countries interested in setting unified international standards for cross-border payments. However, Sankar emphasized that the full public rollout of digital currency will proceed only after comprehensive impact evaluations. "We are in no hurry to roll it out immediately," he noted.

In July, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) had said that the central banks of India, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines are working together to start an instant cross-border retail payments platform by 2026, as per a Reuters report.

BIS, dubbed the central bankers' central bank, had said it aims to link each country's instant digital payment system -- like India's United Payment Interface (UPI) and Singapore's PayNow -- as part of Project Nexus, its initiative to enhance cross-border payments.

India and the other four countries will be the founding members of the platform, while Indonesia will serve as a special observer, it further added.

(With inputs from agencies)