RBI Joins Project Nexus For Instantaneous Cross-Border Retail Payments With ASEAN Countries

On Monday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced its participation in Project Nexus, a collaborative initiative with four ASEAN countries to establish a platform for instantaneous cross-border retail payments.

Conceptualized by the Innovation Hub of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Project Nexus aims to integrate India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with the fast payment systems of Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

These countries, along with India, will be the founding members and first-movers of this innovative platform, the RBI stated.

As per RBI statement, the agreement was signed by the BIS and the central banks of the founding countries: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Bank of Thailand (BOT), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and the Reserve Bank of India on 30 June 2024, in Basel, Switzerland.

Indonesia, which has been involve from the early stages, continues to participate as a special observer.

The RBI has been actively collaborating with various countries to link India’s Fast Payments System (FPS), UPI, with their respective FPSs for cross-border Person-to-Person (P2P) and Person-to-Merchant (P2M) payments.

RBI stated, “While India and its partner countries can continue to benefit through such bilateral connectivity of Fast Payment Systems, a multilateral approach will provide further impetus to our efforts in expanding the international reach of Indian payment systems.”

The platform however is to expand to more countries in the future and is likely to be operational by 2026.

Once functional, Nexus will significantly enhance the efficiency, speed, and cost-effectiveness of retail cross-border payments, according to the RBI statement.

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