RBI, ASEAN to Launch Cross-Border Payments Platform

Mumbai, Jul 1 (PTI) The Reserve Bank of India and ASEAN countries have decided to create a platform to facilitate instant cross-border retail payments.

The platform is expected to go live by 2026.

In a statement, RBI said it 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 -- Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Bank of Thailand (BOT), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) -- and RBI on Sunday in Basel, Switzerland.

Indonesia, which has been involved from the early stages, continues to be involved as a special observer.

"The platform can be extended to more countries, going forward," RBI said.

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, the statement said.