“Can India's domestically-built payment infrastructure (UPI and RuPay) become a globally adopted, sovereign-owned alternative to Western card networks and cross-border payment rails?”
NPCI International was established in 2020 as the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India, created specifically to export India's domestic payment infrastructure — primarily RuPay and UPI — to global markets. The company functions as a B2B infrastructure enabler, forming partnerships with overseas banks, fintechs, and payment networks to allow Indians abroad and foreign nationals to access India-origin payment rails. Its embedded finance angle is primarily cross-border remittances and card scheme expansion, positioning itself as a sovereign-backed alternative to Visa/Mastercard for India-linked corridors.