Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces the imminent introduction of India’s Unified Payments Interface in Malaysia, boosting bilateral digital and economic ties.
SERI KEMBANGAN: India’s Unified Payments Interface will soon be introduced in Malaysia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the announcement at a community reception here today, though he did not provide a specific timeline for the rollout.
UPI is a real-time digital payments system enabling instant transactions directly between bank accounts via mobile phones. Payments are made using a Virtual Payment Address, QR codes, or mobile numbers without sharing bank details and are secured by two-factor authentication.
As of 2025, UPI is the world’s largest retail fast-payment system by volume. It handles more than 640 million transactions daily, surpassing global platforms like Visa.
“Nearly half of the world’s real-time digital transactions happen in India, thanks to our UPI platform,” Modi said. He stated that India has built the world’s largest digital public infrastructure and fintech ecosystem.
Modi framed the India-Malaysia relationship under the IMPACT partnership, which stands for the India-Malaysia Partnership for Advancing Collective Transformation. “Impact on the speed of our relations. Impact on the scale of our ambitions. Impact for the benefit of our people,” he explained.
On economic collaboration, Modi highlighted Indian companies’ contributions to key Malaysian sectors like healthcare and technology. He noted India’s role in creating Malaysia’s first and Asia’s largest insulin manufacturing facility in Iskandar Puteri, Johor.
The facility is operated by Biocon Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of India’s Biocon Ltd. Modi also said more than 100 Indian IT companies are currently operating in Malaysia, generating thousands of local jobs.
He pointed to the Malaysia-India Digital Council as a key platform opening new pathways for cooperation in the digital economy. Total bilateral trade reached RM79.49 billion in 2025.
Malaysia’s exports to India amounted to RM52.30 billion, while imports from India stood at RM27.19 billion. Modi is on an official visit to Malaysia from February 7 to 8, reciprocating Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to India in August 2024.
