India’s RuPay is the equivalent of Mastercard or Visa…

The UAE is home to a huge expat community, with Indians making up about 3.55 million of the population, so this agreement between the UAE and India to launch India’s global card payment, RuPay in the Emirate will come as great news.

In October 2023, it was revealed that the two countries came to an agreement allowing the usage of UAE-issued cards in India, and the RuPay card in the Emirate. This means that individuals will not require a separate card for their expenses.

The card will become operational by the middle of 2024 according to India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry in an interview with The National. 

What is RuPay?

RuPay, the equivalent of Mastercard or Visa, is a global card payment network accepted at shops, ATMs and online platforms. It is available in debit, credit or prepaid options.

In India, there are more than 750 million RuPay cards in circulation, making up more than 60 per cent of the total cards issued. And we have no doubt, it will be popular here in the UAE, too.

When the Indian domestic card RuPay launches, it will come with a number of advantages including bringing down the cost of transacting between the two countries. Usually, the act of remitting money to India comes with a charge and delays in the money transfer, but with RuPay, this will no longer be a concern.

RuPay will also aid in attaining the UAE’s digitisation goals.

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According to Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, the offer has been made to other countries including Singapore. He added that countries who have backed the idea will benefit from it.

Speaking on the agreement, the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi tweeted “This will transform the UAE’s payment systems and mark a new era in India-UAE technology partnership.”

At the moment, we don’t have an exact launch date for the card, but we will be keeping our eyes peeled for the news.

Images: Getty Images