Zimbabwe is in discussions with NPCI International Payments Ltd to use technology behind India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for developing a domestic real-time payments system.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mushayavanhu said that negotiations could conclude by Oct 31.
The proposed platform would provide common infrastructure connecting banks, fintech companies, mobile-money operators and other payment providers, allowing transactions to be processed instantly.
Unlike overseas UPI acceptance, which enables Indian travellers to make payments using UPI-linked accounts, the Zimbabwe project would use the underlying technology to create the country's own instant-payment infrastructure.
Zimbabwe expects lower transaction costs
Mushayavanhu said the proposed system could reduce transaction costs and make payments faster.
Account-to-account transfers could provide a cheaper alternative to cards for low-value domestic transactions, while banks could offer payment services to merchants at lower costs.
The common infrastructure could also help banks and fintech companies develop new financial products.
Greater digitisation could provide better visibility into transactions by small and medium-sized businesses, allowing Zimbabwe to obtain more comprehensive data on their contribution to the economy.
The system could eventually be expanded to cross-border payments and remittances, although these services are not part of the initial rollout.
NPCI International expands UPI technology overseas
NPCI International was established in 2020 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to take Indian payment systems such as UPI and RuPay to international markets.
Zimbabwe would join a growing list of countries working with NPCI International to develop UPI-style domestic payment infrastructure.
In May 2024, NPCI International signed an agreement with the Bank of Namibia to develop a real-time payments platform modelled on UPI.
The project was designed to improve interoperability and enable instant person-to-person and merchant transactions.
Similar agreements for UPI-like infrastructure have been signed with Peru and Trinidad and Tobago.
The expansion comes as African economies increasingly adopt digital-payment infrastructure to reduce transaction costs, lower dependence on cash and bring more consumers and businesses into formal financial services.
