The Indian Ambassador to the UAE, Sunjay Sudhir, stated that the new domestic card scheme will facilitate seamless transactions for residents in both the UAE and India. This strategic partnership agreement involves the UAE launching its domestic payment card scheme based on India’s RuPay card system.
NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), a subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), signed the agreement with Al Etihad Payments (AEP) for implementing the scheme in the UAE.
While RuPay is managed by the NPCI, an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks’ Association, AEP is an indirect subsidiary of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE).
Ambassador Sudhir highlighted the success of the RuPay card scheme in India, with over 750 million RuPay cards in circulation. He emphasized that the UAE sought to develop its domestic credit card system, and after discussions, an agreement was reached to share India’s RuPay card system.
Sudhir emphasized that this scheme would enable seamless payments in both countries. With the implementation of the scheme in the UAE, individuals with RuPay cards from India can make seamless payments in the UAE, and similarly, Emiratis or UAE residents with domestic UAE cards can do the same when visiting India.