India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is set to expand further overseas, with Japan emerging as the latest potential destination for the popular QR-code payment system. According to a report by Nikkei Asia, Japanese IT services major NTT Data is partnering with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to conduct a trial in Japan during FY26.
The initiative would allow Indian tourists to make payments in Japan using UPI, with amounts directly debited from their Indian bank accounts. As part of the effort, the two sides are exploring ways to link Japanese and Indian payment networks, the report said.
The proposed rollout is aimed at capturing spending from a rapidly growing pool of Indian travellers. Japan welcomed about 3.15 lakh visitors from India in 2025, marking a 35 per cent increase year on year. Longer-term trends suggest even stronger growth ahead.
Consultancy McKinsey estimates outbound trips from India could rise from 13 million in 2022 to 90 million by 2040, driven by expanding middle-class incomes and greater appetite for international travel.
UPI’s Global Push And Domestic Scale
Launched in 2016 as a government-led initiative, UPI has become deeply embedded in daily life in India by enabling multiple payment apps to operate on a single, shared QR-code infrastructure.
Transaction volumes grew 42 per cent in fiscal 2024 to 185.8 billion, and an IMF report in June 2025 described UPI as the world’s largest real-time payment system.
Since 2021, NPCI and the Indian government have taken UPI to eight countries, including Bhutan, Singapore, France, Sri Lanka, and the UAE, while also assisting nations such as Peru and Namibia in building similar payment rails.
UPI accounted for 58 per cent of in-store payments in India in 2024 and is projected by Worldpay to reach 76 per cent by 2030, as cash usage continues to decline.
NTT Data, which already provides payment terminals to around 6 million Indian merchants across India and Southeast Asia, is expected to promote UPI adoption among Japanese businesses.
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