Buckle up: India’s UPI, the QR-code wizard of digital payments, is heading to Japan. A Nikkei Asia scoop details how NPCI and NTT Data will test UPI there in FY2026, letting Indian tourists pay effortlessly with direct bank debits from India.
This comes amid a tourism boom—315,000 Indians hit Japan in 2025, 35% more than 2024. McKinsey predicts India’s outbound wanderlust will balloon from 13 million trips in 2022 to 90 million by 2040, thanks to growing disposable incomes.
UPI’s story is legendary: Born in 2016, it hit 185.8 billion transactions in FY2024 (up 42%), earning IMF praise as the globe’s biggest real-time payer. Already in Bhutan, UAE, France, and five others, NPCI is mentoring Peru and Namibia too.
In India, UPI rules retail—58% of store payments in 2024, heading to 76% by 2030, squeezing cash to 7%. Its secret sauce? A common platform where banks and apps like PhonePe thrive.
NTT Data, no stranger to India with 6 million merchant clients, will connect Japanese vendors. This isn’t just tech—it’s a game-changer for seamless global travel payments, positioning UPI as an exportable fintech marvel amid rising Indo-Japan ties.