Japan 'seriously thinking' of joining India’s UPI system

Japan is "now seriously thinking about joining Indian UPI", the payments system and also, it is contemplating how it can mutually recognise e-ID, for increasing interoperability,” the country's digital minister Kono Taro has said in a media interview.

The Centre thanked Japan for its interest in UPI (unified payments interface) and said it is working to recognise a common e-ID for better interoperability.

In a statement, Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the Digital India plans had got good traction on several multi-country associations such as the G20, SCO or G7.


Taro’s comments come just months after Singapore had activated linkages between its own digital payments interface Paynow and UPI. Several other countries had also shown interest in joining the initiative, the Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das had earlier said.

Kano had earlier also said that Japan would send its team to study the UPI system thoroughly and check for ways in which it can be implemented in his home country.

The G7 countries had, following their meeting in April, issued a declaration that all the member nations had agreed to “share and accelerate best practices on digital identity and credentials and support discussions on the ongoing development of the OECD draft recommendation on the governance of digital identity.”

“We reiterate our long-term commitment to better harness digital technologies to achieve a sustainable society and continue working on the green transition, energy and resource efficiency, circular economy and climate change in digitalising society while working to mitigate the environmental impacts of the digital sector itself,” the G7 digital minister had said in a joint statement after their meeting.