The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Namibian Central Bank have entered into a licencing agreement for the usage of Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed the licensing agreement between India and Namibia for the deployment of UPI in Namibia for real-time payments. This is a significant development which will open up new ways of cooperation in the digital space between the two countries.
The UPI-like instant payment system
The partnership between NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) and the Bank of Namibia (BoN) will modernise Namibia’s financial infrastructure by leveraging India’s UPI technology and expertise. This will enable the country to develop a real-time payment system, improve digital finance services, and promote economic inclusivity and growth.
The initiative will enable individuals and merchants to send money faster by going digital with just a tap. UPI is a real-time payment system created by NPCI. NPCI is an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India and the Indian Banks’ Association. This is the first time NPCI International is partnering with a central bank to deploy the UPI Stack in another country.
This alliance follows the NPCI issuing an addendum to its previous circular on the Numerci UPI ID service. the company introduced new guidelines in order to increase interoperability and client experience for UPI number-based payments. The new rules started to be effective on April 1st, 2025, followed by UPI member banks, UPI apps, and third-party app providers.
With these guidelines, UPI IDs linked to dormant mobile numbers were deactivated, meaning that if the mobile number registered with the bank has been inactive for a longer period of time, the associated UPI ID will be unlinked. This ensures that all numbers registered with banks are active and current.
