India's UPI system leading in cross-border payment: U.S. treasury official

US Treasury official Shambaugh highlights India's UPI system for advancing bilateral links with other countries, incl. Singapore & UAE. ASEAN countries have greater ambition of interlinking fast payment systems multilaterally. G20 Payments Roadmap channelling efforts for tangible progress. New techs present opportunity for fresh start for payment systems, incl. transparency, atomic settlement & programmable payments.

India’s Unified Payments Interface system (UPI) stands out in advancing bilateral links with other countries, including Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, a U.S. treasury official said.

In a speech at Harvard Law School on Wednesday, Jay Shambaugh, Under Secretary of US Treasury for International Affairs, spoke on new technologies and cross-border payments. He said a set of ASEAN countries have the greater ambition of interlinking their fast payment systems multilaterally.

Mr. Shambaugh said several initiatives are already underway to upgrade legacy payment systems.

He said payment service providers, system operators, banks, and FMIs are investing in operational improvements to make their systems faster, cheaper, more transparent, more accessible, and more efficient for individual or financial sector users.

"For example, institutions around the world are presently at different stages of implementing the ISO 20022 messaging standard. This standard is more data-rich than its precursors and facilitates straight-through payment processing with faster messaging, lower payment failure rates, and other advantages," Mr. Shambaugh added.

“Some jurisdictions with strong bilateral economic relationships are going further and interlinking their fast payment systems. India stands out as a jurisdiction advancing bilateral links between its Unified Payments Interface system and those of other countries, including Singapore and the United Arab Emirates,” he said.

A set of ASEAN countries have the greater ambition of interlinking fast payment systems multilaterally. In both contexts, the 'G20 Payments Roadmap' has channelled efforts toward opportunities for tangible, near-term progress, Shambaugh said.