Prime Highlight
- India launched the UPI–UPU Integration Project at the 28th Universal Postal Congress, linking India’s UPI with the Universal Postal Union’s platform to enable faster, secure, and low-cost cross-border money transfers.
- Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia emphasized the initiative as a social effort, combining postal reach with digital efficiency to improve global financial access.
Key Facts
- India has over 560 million financial accounts, many in women’s names, supported by Aadhaar, Jan Dhan, and India Post Payments Bank, while India Post handled 900 million parcels and letters in the last year.
- India pledged USD 10 million to boost innovation in e-commerce and digital payments while seeking a stronger governance role in the UPU.
Background
At the 28th Universal Postal Congress, Union Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya M. Scindia announced the launch of the UPI–UPU Integration Project. The project links the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India to the Interconnection Platform of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), which seeks to change cross-border money transfer.
Scindia described the project as more than just a technology launch. He said it is a social effort to help families send money internationally in a way that is fast, secure, and low-cost. By combining the reach of postal networks with UPI’s efficiency, the project seeks to improve financial access across borders. He added that public infrastructure designed for citizens can now serve people globally, helping them stay connected.
The modern postal sector in India aims at applying data-driven logistics, offering affordable digital financial services to migrants and businesses, modernizing operations using AI and machine learning, and forming international partnerships via the UPU. According to Scindia, India has registered over 560 million financial accounts, many of them in female names, with initiatives like the Aadhaar, Jan Dhan, and India Post Payments Bank. India Post has handled over 900 million letters and parcels in the last year.
To boost innovation, India committed USD 10 million to support technology development, especially in e-commerce and digital payments. Scindia further claimed that India would like to have a significant role in the governance of the UPU. He stressed India’s dedication to making global commerce simple by connecting payments, identity services, and logistics. The UPI–UPU Integration shows India’s commitment to building an inclusive, cooperative, and connected future for global postal services.