Whether you are visiting the Eiffel Tower or exploring shopping options at the busy Galeries Lafayette in Haussman, you can now use UPI to make payments.

On Thursday, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) became live at the flagship store of the world-renowned Galeries Lafayette in Haussman, Paris. Only six months ago, the UPI transaction facility was launched at the Eiffel Tower, in January 2024.

Jawed Ashraf, Ambassador of India to France, launched UPI by live use at the store. This comes days ahead of the Paris Olympics starting on July 26.

The mega sports event is expected to draw a large number of Indian visitors, and UPI can give them an easy payment option much like back home.

Ambassador Ashraf hoped that in addition to quick, safe, and efficient means of cross-border digital payments, “UPI will grow as a medium of cross-border remittances and eventually become the digital payment system in countries across the world.”

As of now, UPI payments are accepted in a select few countries, making it easier for Indian tourists and NRIs to make payments abroad.

So far, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, France, UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, and Nepal have officially integrated the system, allowing Indian tourists and NRIs to make payments at select merchant locations using their UPI-enabled apps.

This means that you can use your UPI app to pay for your tickets and other expenses in these countries, just like you would in India.

The Unified Payments Interface has revolutionised the digital payments landscape in India since its launch in 2016. As of June 2024, UPI transactions reached 14 billion, marking a 49% year-on-year increase.