Why India is building its own global payment rails

Wealth & Business · Published 19 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: For years, 90% of India's domestic payments were routed through switches located outside the country. To fix this, India created RuPay—a domestic payment network designed to cut costs, ensure data sovereignty, and challenge the dominance of international giants like Visa and Mastercard.

The push for RuPay began in 2009 when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) identified a critical economic friction: the lack of a domestic price setter. Because Indian banks had to affiliate with international systems, they bore high costs for connections. Furthermore, since domestic transactions accounted for over 90% of the volume, routing this traffic through foreign switches was seen as an inefficient and costly dependency. The network was initially conceived as 'India Pay' before being finalized as RuPay to avoid naming conflicts. This initiative aimed to create a non-profit payment company to design an indigenous card.

Launched officially in 2014, RuPay was designed to consolidate various Indian payment systems into a single, open, and multilateral network. By 2020, the network had reached massive scale, with approximately 753 million cards issued by nearly 1,158 banks. Indian firms generating over ₹50 crore (US$5.2 million) yearly were ordered by authorities to provide UPI and RuPay as payment methods to facilitate quick uptake. The system supports diverse products including government scheme cards like RuPay PMJDY and Kisan credit cards. Additionally, the network offers specialized variants like RuPay Select to target affluent consumers with curated benefits.

The strategy now focuses on internationalization and competition. While Mastercard and Visa have raised concerns with US trade officials over India's promotion of RuPay, NPCI has aggressively pursued global partnerships. By partnering with networks like Discover and JCB, RuPay is expanding into 185 countries. In December 2023, RuPay credit card volume surpassed ₹10,000 crore within one month, marking a transition toward a primary domestic and international substitute for Western financial systems. The network also supports a contactless feature for transactions up to ₹2000 using EMV-compatible technology. Furthermore, the RBI aims to expand RuPay into countries using the Euro, Pound sterling, and US dollar under bilateral treaties.

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