European payments services provider Worldline and NPCI International Payments Ltd (NPIL) have entered into a partnership in a move to expand the acceptance of Indian payment means across Europe.

NPCI International Payments is the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) — which is the driver of digital payments here in India.

As part of the partnership, Worldline will bring more convenience for Indian customers in the European markets by allowing merchants’ point-of-sale (POS) systems to accept payments from UPI, as well as RuPay — NPCI’s proprietary card payment network solution, a joint statement by the two entities said on Tuesday.

This is expected to result in a multitude of customer-related merchant benefits due to an increase in footfall and spending from Indian tourists.

Currently, customers from India pay through international card networks.

However, the hugely popular UPI allows multiple bank accounts to be accessed through one single mobile application, which in turn, will enhance customer experience whilst opening up new business prospects for merchants, the joint statement said.

“Facilitated via Worldline QR, the company’s universal product for the acceptance of all QR-based payments, the first target markets for NIPL are set to include BENELUX and Switzerland with further plans for expansion, as Worldline QR is rolled out in more European countries,” it added.

India is one of the most important tourist markets for Europe with an estimated 10 million Indians travelling to the region each year prior to the pandemic, the statement said quoting Schengen Visa. Now, as the impacts of COVID-19 begin to subside, that number, it said, is expected to significantly increase.

“Our analyses of international customers’ payment behavior have indicated a push away from international card schemes in recent times, and a preference for any mobile payment method they are acquainted with. Our partnership with NPCI International seeks to mitigate the risk of excluding or limiting Indian customers from safely using electronic payments in the EU,” said Marc-Henri Desportes, Deputy CEO of Worldline in the statement.

For the record, NPCI’s UPI platform recorded 38.74 billion transactions, worth USD 954.58 billion, making it the best-performing real-time payment ecosystem in the world. Similarly, 714 million RuPay cards have been issued to date, clocking over 1.3 billion transactions.

“In Worldline, we found a partner that provides us with good coverage of the European markets as well as an advanced and universally applicable solution. The roll-out of acceptance of UPI-powered Apps and RuPay Cards across Europe is important to us, as we expect increased mobility of Indians in the continent in the coming years. We believe this partnership will empower Indian consumers to continue using their preferred payment modes as they travel across Europe,” said Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NPCI International Payments in the statement.