Summary of this article
Zimbabwe seeks India's UPI technology to modernize its national digital payments infrastructure.
The system aims to lower transaction costs, reduce cash dependency, and enable real-time transfers.
Zimbabwe may eventually expand UPI for cross-border transactions and remittances.
India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has expanded its presence beyond the country with the digital payments system being adopted for international transactions and payment infrastructure in several markets abroad.
Now, Zimbabwe is exploring the use of UPI, as it seeks to develop a faster and more connected payments infrastructure. The country’s central bank is in talks with the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in this regard. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mushayavanhu said that talks with NPCI International Payments could be concluded by October 31, 2026, according to a Bloomberg report.
Zimbabwe’s Plans For UPI-Based Payments
Under the proposed arrangement, banks, mobile-money operators, fintech firms and other payment providers in Zimbabwe could be connected through a common payments infrastructure. This would allow transactions between participating providers to be processed in real time. The system could help Zimbabwe reduce the cost of transactions and lower its dependence on cash.
The use of the technology could support the development of new financial products. Account-to-account transfers could also provide an alternative to cards for low-value domestic payments, thereby reducing the need for card-based transactions for such payments.
The proposed system could have implications beyond payments as well. It could give the government more reliable information on small and medium-sized businesses and help authorities measure their contribution to the economy more accurately.
Zimbabwe may also consider expanding the use of UPI for international payments. Mushayavanhu said the country could eventually use the system for cross-border transactions and remittances. The move comes as African governments expand digital payment systems to reduce transaction costs to encourage more businesses to use formal financial channels and reduce dependence on cash.
UPI’s Growing Global Footprint
According to data from NPCI, a total of 756 banks in India were using UPI in September 2026. The payment system accounted for 49 per cent of the world’s real-time payment transaction volume in 2025, according to the Ministry of Finance. UPI is also operational in 11 foreign countries, including the UAE, France, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Singapore, Mauritius, Qatar, Cambodia, Greece and the Maldives. Singapore and Nepal have both person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) arrangements with UPI.
