India’s UPI Expands to Qatar
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has officially launched in Qatar, marking another milestone in India’s growing global digital payments journey. With this rollout, Qatar becomes the eighth country to adopt UPI for domestic and cross border transactions, joining the ranks of Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the United Arab Emirates.
The initiative has been implemented in collaboration with Qatar National Bank (QNB) and NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL). Through this partnership, QNB has integrated QR code based UPI payments at point of sale (PoS) terminals across retail outlets, beginning with LuLu Hypermarket, one of Qatar’s most popular retail chains owned by Indian entrepreneur Yusuffali MA.
Driving a Cashless Economy in Qatar
The move marks a major step forward for both countries in promoting cashless, real time, and secure payment solutions. UPI’s entry into Qatar comes at a time when the nation’s retail and tourism industries are embracing digital transformation and seeking efficient alternatives to traditional payment systems.
The integration allows Indian tourists, expatriates, and local shoppers to make instant digital payments in Indian rupees, directly from their bank accounts through UPI supported apps. For merchants, this means faster transactions, reduced operational costs, and seamless reconciliation, all while catering to Qatar’s large Indian community of over 8 lakh residents.
The project’s technology backbone is powered by NETSTARS, one of Japan’s leading payment gateway providers. Its StarPay platform enables interoperability across multiple domestic and international payment systems, allowing smooth acceptance of QR based payments from a variety of platforms.
Strengthening Bilateral Trade and Connectivity
The launch was inaugurated by Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, who described the move as a game changer for India Qatar trade relations. Goyal stated that UPI will help reduce transaction costs, improve speed, and create new opportunities for businesses and individuals across both nations.
“The launch of UPI has the potential to revolutionise trade between Qatar and India. It is an opportunity to strengthen trust between the two nations as we integrate our payment systems seamlessly,” Goyal said. “This will make the movement of money and capital faster and more cost effective, benefiting the 830,000 Indians living in Qatar who send remittances home regularly.”
The minister also highlighted that UPI’s expansion supports India’s long term goal of building a global interoperable payment framework, allowing cross border transactions to happen as easily as domestic transfers.
A Global Success Story
Since its launch nine years ago, UPI has become a symbol of India’s fintech innovation and digital inclusivity. Today, the system handles nearly 85 percent of all digital payments in India, processing over 640 million transactions daily and setting a record one billion transactions on September 22.
Globally, almost half of all digital payment transactions now occur through the UPI network, underscoring its reliability, scalability, and ease of use. Its adoption in Qatar is another validation of India’s leadership in digital infrastructure and financial technology.
The Road Ahead
With this integration, Qatar National Bank and LuLu Group are expected to pave the way for more widespread adoption of UPI across other retail, hospitality, and service sectors in the country. The move also opens the door for cross border remittance innovation, allowing smoother fund transfers between Indian banks and Qatari institutions.
As more nations embrace India’s digital payment ecosystem, UPI continues to position itself as a global standard for real time, low cost, and secure transactions.
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