Dubai, UAE: Mashreq, one of the leading financial institutions in the MENA region, in partnership with NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL), has taken a significant step forward in enhancing financial connectivity between the UAE and India. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) - enabled apps such as PhonePe will now be integrated with NEOPAY, Mashreq's payment platform, facilitating seamless payment solutions for Indian tourists across multiple merchant locations in the UAE.

Indian customers travelling to UAE, as well as NRIs with Indian bank accounts can enhance their payment convenience by downloading their preferred UPI-enabled app. Once installed, the app allows users to make payments at NEOPAY terminals. These terminals – conveniently located across multiple avenues in the UAE, including retail stores, dining outlets, and key tourist and leisure destinations – generate a QR code that can be scanned to facilitate easy and quick payments. These payments will be enabled by UPI, the instant, real-time payment system developed by the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) to facilitate inter-bank transactions through mobile phones. All transactions are processed in Indian Rupees (INR), offering transparency and convenience for Indian tourists.

Vibhor Mundhada, CEO of NEOPAY at Mashreq said: “We are delighted to collaborate with PhonePe to offer yet another new payment solution for Indian tourists and visitors in the UAE, helping further cement the already strong financial relations between the two countries. This latest launch underscores our commitment to incorporating innovation and technology into our operations, and to providing the solutions and experiences our customers want and need.”

Ritesh Pai, CEO International Payments at PhonePe said: ‘’We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Mashreq. UAE is a very popular destination, with millions of Indian visitors every year. With this partnership customers can now conveniently transact through UPI, a payment method they are familiar with. Enabling digital payments not only reflects PhonePe's commitment to convenience but also embraces the evolving needs of today's travelers. This collaboration opens doors to seamless transactions, ensuring a smoother and more enjoyable journey for visitors.'

Anubhav Sharma, Deputy Chief - Partnership Business Development & Marketing, NIPL said, “We aim to actively collaborate with financial institutions around the world, fostering partnerships to deliver convenient and secure cross-border payment solutions for consumers. This partnership encourages fintech collaboration and unifies the ecosystem to streamline payment processes for Indian travellers to UAE.”

PhonePe is India’s largest digital payments company with over 515 million registered users. This collaboration will simplify payment transactions for Indians in the UAE who are among the top visitors to the Gulf country, with 2.46 million tourists having visited Dubai in 2023, thus strengthening UAE’s financial ties with India.)

About Mashreq:

Mashreq is almost a half-century old, yet proudly thinks like a challenger, startup, and innovator. Mashreq pioneered key innovations and developments in banking, starting with entry-level digital-first customers all the way to powering some of the region’s most prominent corporations and wealth accounts.

The bank’s mandate is to help customers find their way to Rise Every Day, partnering through the highs and lows to help them achieve their goals and unlock their vision of success.

Reassuringly present in major financial centers of the world, Mashreq’s home and global HQ remains in the Middle East, offering services whenever and wherever opportunity takes its customers.

Find your way to Rise Every Day at www.Mashreq.com/RiseEveryDay

For media inquiries, please write to: media@mashreq.com

About PhonePe Group:

PhonePe Group is India’s leading fintech company. Its flagship product, the PhonePe digital payments app, was launched in Aug 2016. In just 7 years, the company has scaled rapidly to become India’s leading consumer payments app with 520+ million registered users and a digital payments acceptance network of 38 million merchants. PhonePe also processes 230+ million daily transactions with an annualized Total Payment Value (TPV) of USD 1.5+ Trillion.

On the back of its leadership in digital payments, PhonePe Group has expanded into financial services (Insurance, Lending, Wealth) as well as new consumer tech businesses (Pincode - hyperlocal e-commerce and Indus App Store - India's first localized App Store). PhonePe Group is an India headquartered technology company with a portfolio of businesses aligned with the company's vision to offer every Indian an equal opportunity to accelerate their progress by unlocking the flow of money and access to services.

For media questions please reach out to: media@phonepe.com

About NIPL:

NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) was incorporated on April 3, 2020, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). As the international arm of NPCI, NIPL is devoted for deployment of NPCI’s indigenous, successful Real-Time Payment System – Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Card Scheme – RuPay, outside of India. NPCI has successfully developed and proved its product and technological capabilities in the domestic market by transforming payment segment in India. Conversely, there are several countries that

want to establish a ‘real-time payment system’ or ‘domestic card scheme’ in their own country. NIPL, with its knowledge and experience, can offer these countries technological assistance through licensing, consulting for building real-time payment system to meet the rapidly evolving need of fast-growing global businesses. NIPL is focused on transforming payments across the globe with the use of technology and innovation. It will not only enable payment for Indians but also uplift other countries by enhancing their payment capabilities through technological assistance, consulting, and infrastructure. For more information, visit: https://www.npci.org.in/

For media queries, write to corporate.communications@npci.org.in