PayPal’s Xoom adds UPI payments enabling NRIs and PIOs to remit money to India in real time
Innovative UPI integration to help with increased convenience and grow international remittances into India
Xoom, PayPal’s international digital money transfer service announced its integration with NPIL’s/NPCI’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a real-time payment system facilitating inter-bank transactions. Non-Residential Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) living in the United States (US), Canada and Europe can now remit money to their family and friends in India. Using UPI to send money to India via Xoom is easier as overseas senders only need to know Indian receivers’ UPI identity (ID) to send remittances instantly, 24 by 7 and 365 days of the year.
This new service offers more choice, convenience to Xoom customers and enables Indian diaspora to easily transfer money back home–securely and seamlessly. UPI is a payment mechanism which allows money transfers without having to source or share bank account details. Instead of bank account numbers and IFSC codes, the virtual payment address (VPA) is used to pay when customers send money via UPI. Another benefit of UPI is that one UPI ID works for many bank accounts; recipients of money transfers can link multiple bank accounts to receive payments and even set their default bank account for transactions.
The number of Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based payments hit a new milestone in December crossing 2.23 billion (223 crores) transactions amounting to transactions worth US$ 56 billion (INR 4.16 lakh crore), according to data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
“Xoom, our global remittance service, is a pioneer in creating fast, innovative and secure digital money transfers. Real-time payments via UPI have been a critical and essential payment tool during the pandemic and emerged as one of the most popular payments method in our country,” shared Nath Parameshwaran, Director, India entities & Corporate Affairs, PayPal India. “India is an important market for us. We are delighted that Indian diaspora across many markets can now use UPI to send remittances back their loved ones back home with Xoom.”
Xoom customers can use UPI payments to remit money to 66 banks across India, including leading banks like State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Andhra, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Indian Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Federal Bank.
World Bank data reveals that India’s burgeoning population of NRIs and PIOs makes it the top market for remittances globally. India is a focus market for Xoom. The average transaction value of money sent to India via the service is four times higher compared to most other countries.
A pioneer in digital remittances, Xoom is a fast and secure way to send money, pay bills and reload phones for loved ones in over 160 countries globally. These remittances serve as a lifeline for many people around the world and are used to pay for things like utility bills, healthcare, education costs and emergencies.
About PayPal
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