Bhutan adopts India's BHIM-UPI payment system
Jul 13, 2021
New Delhi [India], July 13 Bhutan on Tuesday became the first country to adopt India's Unified Payment Interface (UPI) standards for its quick response (QR) code.
In a virtual ceremony, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Bhutanese counterpart Lyonpo Namgay Tshering jointly launched BHIM-UPI in Bhutan.
Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) is India's digital payment application that works through UPI, which is an instant real-time payment system. The UPI enables multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application.
Bhutan is also the first country in India's immediate neighbourhood to accept mobile-based payments through the BHIM App.
As a part of the launch, Sitharaman made a live transaction using BHIM-UPI to purchase an organic product from a Bhutanese OGOP outlet, which sells fresh farm produce made organically by local communities in Bhutan.
With today's launch of BHIM-UPI in Bhutan, the payment infrastructures of the two countries are seamlessly connected and will benefit a large number of tourists and businessmen from India who travel to Bhutan each year, the Finance Ministry said.
This will enhance the ease of living and ease of travelling through cashless transactions at the touch of a button, it added.
While speaking on the occasion, Sitharaman said the services have started in Bhutan under India's neighbourhood first policy.
"There could not be any better place to launch it because every Indian tourist who goes to Bhutan goes with such a warm feeling to the land of happiness," she said.
The Finance Minister said BHIM UPI is one of the brightest spots and achievements for digital transactions in India during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 100 million UPI QRs have been created in the last five years and BHIM UPI in 2020-21 has processed 22 billion transactions worth value Rs 41 lakh crore.
"BHIM-UPI is one of the achievements of India in terms of fintech in which India invested a lot & we have also encouraged our start-ups to come up with solutions. Therefore, BHIM-UPI stands out as one of the very good successful experiments that we have undertaken," she said.
Meanwhile, Tshering thanked and appreciated the Government of India for the launch of BHIM-UPI services in Bhutan and added that the bond between the two countries has become stronger with each passing day.
This launch fulfils the commitment made by the two countries during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bhutan in 2019.
Following PM Modi's visit, India and Bhutan have already enabled inter-operability in acceptance of Rupay cards in each other's countries in two phases - acceptance of Rupay cards issued in India at Bhutan based terminals in the first phase, and vice versa in the second phase.
