National Payments Corporation of India

About NPCI

NPCI was incorporated in 2008 as an umbrella organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.
It is an initiative of the RBI and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, for creating a robust Payment & Settlement Infrastructure in India.
It has been incorporated as a “Not for Profit” Company under the Companies Act 2013.
It has changed the way payments are made in India through a bouquet of retail payment products such as RuPay card, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), BHIM Aadhaar, National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC Fastag) and Bharat BillPay.

Why in News?

NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Al Etihad Payments (AEP) for Domestic Card Scheme (DCS) Implementation in UAE.
- NIPL is a separate subsidiary created by NPCI to take its product to global market. AEP is an indirect subsidiary of the Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE).
As per the agreement, NIPL and AEP will work together to build, implement, and operationalize UAE’s national domestic card scheme.
The DCS will aim to facilitate the growth of e-commerce and digital transactions in the UAE, bolster financial inclusion, support the UAE’s digitization agenda, increase alternate payment options, reduce the cost of payments, and enhance the UAE’s competitiveness and position as a global payments leader.
India’s world-renowned Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is driving massive transformation in the payment space. DPI framework includes digital identity, digital payments, and digital data exchange layers – a combination of these three is the force behind the fintech revolution in India.
India is the third largest fintech ecosystem in the world, with rapidly surfacing unicorns. India has witnessed an exponential growth of 367% in customers participating in digital transactions in the last five years, with an active customer base of more than 340 million.

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