UPI expands overseas reach to 13 markets, with Uzbekistan the latest addition
Indian travellers can use UPI across 13 international markets, extending low-friction digital payments for tourists, students and business visitors. Uzbekistan is the latest market added; a 0.4% MDR on UPI transactions above ₹2,000 is set to take effect from 15 October.
What happened
UPI is available to Indian tourists, students and business travellers across 13 foreign markets, lowering cross-border payment costs. Uzbekistan is the latest
Key facts
- UPI MDR of 0.4% on transactions above ₹2,000
- MDR capped at ₹300
- credit-card MDR typically 1.5%-2.5%
- debit-card MDR capped at 0.90%
- 13 countries have enabled UPI for Indian travellers
- 15 October
Why this matters
Payments providers, acquirers and travel platforms should pursue local acceptance and FX partnerships in newly covered markets such as Uzbekistan to capture Indian traveller spend.
What to watch
- Merchant acceptance density and transaction volumes in Uzbekistan within the first two quarters.
- Expansion into high-volume Indian travel markets, especially the Gulf, Europe and Southeast Asia.
- Changes to the ₹2,000 MDR threshold, fee rate, or customer-facing fee disclosure requirements.
- Evidence of higher average transaction values and use in hotels, transport, education or healthcare payments.
- New bilateral settlement, FX conversion, interoperability or local-wallet partnerships that reduce cross-border friction.
- Card-network or bank responses, including travel-card promotions, FX-fee reductions or rewards competition.
- Prioritize UPI acceptance messaging, QR deployment and merchant onboarding in high-Indian-visitor zones in the 13 supported markets.
- Build checkout routing that clearly displays applicable fees for transactions above ₹2,000 and compares UPI with card options.
- Analyze cross-border UPI baskets by ticket size, category and traveler segment to identify fee-driven payment substitution.
- Partner with travel agencies, airlines, universities and corporate travel platforms to position UPI as a pre-departure payment utility.
- Prepare loyalty or merchant-funded incentives for sub-₹2,000 transactions where UPI has the strongest cost and convenience advantage.