The Philippine government is exploring the adoption of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) technology to accelerate government aid distribution and reduce the cost of digital transactions.
The proposal was discussed during a Sept. 12 meeting in New Delhi between Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Philippine officials, and Ritesh Shukla, managing director and chief executive officer of NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL).
NIPL is the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India, which developed and operates UPI, an instant payment system that allows transfers between bank accounts through mobile applications.
A proposed partnership with Landbank would apply UPI capabilities to government-to-person payments, potentially allowing financial assistance to be distributed more quickly.
“During our meeting with President Marcos Jr. and NPCI International, we agreed to bring India’s UPI technology to the Philippines. This will allow LandBank to distribute government financial aid much faster and make daily digital transactions easier and cheaper for ordinary Filipinos,” Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) secretary Cristina Roque said.
The government is also studying a possible link between UPI and QR Ph, the Philippines’ interoperable quick-response code standard. Such an arrangement could allow micro, small, and medium enterprises to accept payments from foreign tourists and overseas customers.
“By bringing India’s UPI technology to the Philippines, we will also directly empower our MSMEs by making cross-border payments seamless and digital transactions cheaper and more accessible,” Roque said.
UPI could also be connected with InstaPay, GCash, and the domestic clearing network operated by the newly merged Payments Network of the Philippines Inc. and BancNet.
Department of Finance (DOF) secretary Frederick Go, who chairs Landbank, said the government is evaluating technologies that could lower the cost of delivering public services while improving the speed and security of transactions.
The DTI said it would coordinate with the DOF, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Landbank, and PNPI-BancNet on the proposed technical implementation.
The government is also considering incentives and expedited processing for NIPL under Executive Order No. 18, the CREATE MORE Act, and the Strategic Investment Priority Plan.
UPI was launched in India in 2016 and has since been deployed or connected with payment systems in several countries. It accounted for 84% of India’s digital-payment transactions in fiscal year 2025-2026, according to the Indian government.
