RBI, ASEAN to create platform for instant retail payments
- The Reserve Bank of India and ASEAN countries have decided to create a platform to facilitate instant cross-border retail payments.
Highlights:
- This platform is expected to go live by 2026.
- RBI has joined the Project Nexus, a multilateral international initiative to enable instant cross-border retail payments by interlinking domestic fast payments systems (FPSs).
- Nexus, conceptualised by the Innovation Hub of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), aims to connect FPSs of four ASEAN countries (Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand); and India, who would be the founding members and first mover countries of this platform.
- An agreement to this effect was signed by BIS and central banks of the founding countries
- Indonesia, which has been involved from the early stages, continues to be involved as a special observer.
- Once functional, Nexus will play an important role in making retail cross-border payments efficient, faster, and more cost effective.
- The Reserve Bank has been collaborating bilaterally with various countries to link India’s FPS Unified Payments Interface (UPI), with their respective FPSs for cross-border Person to Person (P2P) and Person to Merchant (P2M) payments.
- While India and its partner countries can continue to benefit through such bilateral connectivity of fast payment systems, a multilateral approach will provide further impetus to the efforts in expanding the international reach of Indian payment systems.
Prelims Takeaway
- Nexus
- ASEAN