American payments firm PayPal on Wednesday announced that it is partnering with several global digital payment systems and wallet operators to enable cross-border payments for businesses. Among these is India’s government-operated Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
The service will be launched under a new platform called “PayPal World”, which will enable interoperability between local payment platforms and PayPal, the company said in a statement. Other platforms that are part of this system include Brazil’s Mercado Pago, Tencent Holdings’ Tenpay Global, and Venmo.
“The integration of UPI on PayPal World’s platform will mark a significant step in expanding UPI’s global footprint... This collaboration will enhance convenience for Indian users making payments abroad and enable global businesses and merchants to tap into a growing base of UPI users,” said Ritesh Shukla, Managing Director and CEO of NPCI International Payments Limited, which operates UPI.
How Will Cross-Border Payments Work?
PayPal explained the process using an example. Assume an Indian UPI user wants to buy a pair of sneakers from an online store in the US. At checkout, when they click on the PayPal button, they will see the familiar UPI option to complete the transaction.
As of May 2025, there are over 500 million active UPI users in India, and UPI accounts for around 85% of the total volume of retail digital payments.
The system has already been launched in at least seven countries, the UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, and Mauritius, where Indian travellers and residents can use UPI for payments.
The Indian government is reportedly in talks with several African and South American countries to implement a digital payment system based on UPI.
PayPal’s new platform is expected to go live by autumn this year. The US-based firm also plans to onboard more partners in the future.
