Digital transactions to soon exceed cash: PM Modi

New Delhi/Singapore: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed hope that digital transactions will soon surpass cash with Unified Payments Interface (UPI) increasingly becoming the most preferred payment mechanism in the country. Modi after the launch of the cross-border connectivity between the UPI and PayNow of Singapore said about 74 billion transactions amounting to more than Rs 126 trillion, which is approximately 2 trillion Singapore dollar, was done through UPI in 2022.

"Many experts are estimating that very soon India's digital wallet transactions are going to overtake cash transactions," he said. A large number of transactions via UPI demonstrate that this indigenously designed payment system is very secure, he said. Modi along with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong witnessed the launch of cross-border connectivity between UPI and PayNow via video conferencing. The facility was launched through token transactions by Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das and Managing Director of Monetary Authority of Singapore Ravi Menon using the UPI-PayNow linkage.

Prime Minister Lee said the idea of linking PayNow and UPI was first conceived in 2018, when Modi visited Singapore. "Since then, our two central banks have been working on this in earnest. Digital connectivity was also a key topic discussed at the inaugural India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR), which was held in New Delhi last September. So I am very glad that the PayNow-UPI linkage has now become a reality," Lee explained. "As we progressively add more users and use cases, the PayNow-UPI linkage will grow in utility, and contribute more to facilitating our trade and our people-to-people links," Lee said. Cross-border retail payments and remittances between Singapore and India amount to over USD 1 billion annually.

"I hope this strong partnership between Singapore and India will continue to spawn innovative technology solutions and create more cross-border opportunities for our digital economies," Lee said. Stressing that the linkage of UPI and PayNow is a new milestone in India-Singapore relations, Modi said, this will help people of both the countries to do cross-border transactions through mobile phone in an affordable manner.

Singapore is the first country with which cross-border Person-to-Person (P2P) payment facility has been launched, he said, adding, this will help the Indian diaspora in Singapore, especially migrant workers/students and bring the benefits of digitalisation and fintech to the common man through instantaneous and low-cost transfer of money from Singapore to India and vice-versa. Pointing out that the focus of the government is to promote innovation and modernisation, Modi said the Digital India programme of the government has enhanced 'Ease of Living' and 'Ease of Doing Business' and digital connectivity and has pushed financial inclusion.