Indian travellers in Dubai can now make cashless shopping possible following the deal signed between NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) and the United Arab Emirates-based payment solutions company Magnati. This initiative facilitates payment through Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in Dubai Duty-Free and is anticipated to spread over other sectors like retail, hospitality, transports, and supermarkets.
This partnership reinforces NIPL’s objective of taking India’s rapidly popularized UPI to the international domain. Mr. Ritesh Shukla, the CEO of NIPL also seems optimistic about the partnership and said, “Our partnership with Magnati is a significant step for UPI going global and improves the payment experience of tourists from India traveling abroad.”
According to Mr. Salim Awan, the Managing Director of Magnati, this is going to pave the way for making cross-border payment easier adding, “With the integration of UPI, at Dubai Duty-Free, we are targeting an important segment of Indian travelers as well as NRIs and giving them an efficient method of payment.”
How It Works
Magnati Point of Sale solution allows Indian passengers to pay with UPI-ready applications including, but not limited to, BHIM, PhonePe, Paytm, and Google Pay.
- Scan the QR Code: Customers are able to, scan the merchant QR code at the checkout.
- Enter Amount: You should enter the payment amount in Indian Rupees.
- Select Bank Account: The linked Bank account needs to be selected for the transaction.
- Confirm with UPI PIN: And to complete the payment, enter the appropriate UPI PIN.
Payments will be credited in INR only and will incorporate the foreign exchange conversion rates and moreover the exchange commission charges.
Enhancing Travel and Shopping Experiences
Through this collaboration, Dubai Duty-Free becomes the first merchant category to accept the UPI payment for this partnership which will help over 12 million Indian visitors traveling to UAE annually. This is an important step as India remains the leading source market for Dubai continuing to see as many as 11.9 million Indian tourists in 2023.
The move widens UPI’s positioning as a global real-time payment system and settled 16 billion transactions in December 2024. While UPI is already available in countries including Bhutan, Mauritius, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka and France, this tie-up with Magnati is another significant development in UPI’s drive to go global.
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Future Expansion
While the service currently focuses on Dubai Duty-Free, plans are in place to extend UPI acceptance across a wider range of sectors, including: Retail, Hospitality, transport and Supermarkets. It will also improve the convenience for Indians to pay internationally while simultaneously promoting the development of a diverse payment system around the world.
A Game-Changer for Cross-Border Payments
This newly formed mechanism between UPI’s smooth working and Magnati’s strong base of merchants is going to dramatically reform how Indians transact internationally. They do not make tourists uneasy for having to deal with the issue of currency exchange or cheeky extra charges when paying. Initiatives such as these, come as India emerges more prominently in the global digital economy, showing how Indian innovations can help improve the lives of millions of people.