NEW DELHI — India and Spain have agreed to accelerate technical discussions on enabling interoperability between India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Spain's Bizum instant payment platform, marking a step toward facilitating cross-border digital payments between users of the two systems, India's Commerce Ministry said.
The announcement followed Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal's visit to Spain, during which officials from both countries discussed expanding cooperation in digital payments alongside broader efforts to strengthen trade and investment ties. According to the ministry, the proposed linkage would be pursued through technical consultations before any interoperability arrangement is implemented.
The ministry said the discussions also covered measures to improve investment facilitation, enhance the mobility of professionals and encourage joint investments in Latin America. Officials described Spain as an important gateway for Indian businesses seeking access to European and Latin American markets.
No timeline was announced for completing the technical work, and authorities did not disclose operational details of how transactions between UPI and Bizum would function. The proposal remains subject to further technical and regulatory discussions between the relevant payment authorities and financial institutions.
UPI, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India, has become India's primary real-time retail payments network and has been expanded internationally through partnerships with foreign payment providers, banks and merchants. The government has promoted overseas acceptance of the system as part of broader efforts to strengthen digital public infrastructure and facilitate payments for Indian travellers and businesses abroad.
Bizum is Spain's bank-backed instant payment platform, allowing users of participating financial institutions to send and receive money electronically. Linking the two systems could eventually support faster cross-border digital transactions, although officials have not confirmed the scope of services that would be available if an agreement is finalized.
The UPI-Bizum initiative forms part of a wider agenda discussed during Goyal's visit, which included cooperation in manufacturing, innovation and investment as India and Spain seek to deepen economic relations. Both governments said technical engagement on payment interoperability would continue alongside broader bilateral economic discussions, with no formal implementation date announced.
