The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on June 11, 2024, issued a notification regarding the Reserve Bank of India and ASEAN Countries to Create a Platform to Facilitate Instantaneous Cross-Border Retail Payments.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been actively collaborating with various countries to link India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with their respective Fast Payment Systems (FPS) for cross-border Person to Person (P2P) and Person to Merchant (P2M) payments. While bilateral connectivity of Fast Payment Systems offers benefits, adopting a multilateral approach will significantly enhance the international reach of Indian payment systems.
To this end, the RBI has joined Project Nexus, a multilateral initiative aimed at enabling instant cross-border retail payments by interlinking domestic FPSs. Conceptualized by the Innovation Hub of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Project Nexus seeks to connect the FPSs of four ASEAN countries—Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand—along with India as the founding members.
On June 30, 2024, in Basel, Switzerland, an agreement was signed by 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. Indonesia, which has been involved since the early stages, continues its participation as a special observer. Further details are available on the BIS website and in their explanatory video.
The platform is expected to go live by 2026 and may extend to more countries in the future. Once operational, Nexus will play a crucial role in making retail cross-border payments more efficient, faster, and cost-effective.
[Notification No. 2024-2025/600]
