India and Nepal have launched a money-transfer service linking India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with Nepal's National Payments Interface (NPI), allowing users to transfer and receive money in the two countries.

The service offered is a collaboration between NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and Nepal Clearing House Ltd. (NCHL), Nepal's primary payments infrastructure provider. It strengthens the G20 objective of making cross-border payments faster.

The setup allows Indian and Nepalese users residing in India to send money to recipients in Nepal using mobile numbers or virtual payment addresses (VPAs), while Indian users residing in Nepal can also transfer money using UPI IDs.

The service is currently available through select banks and is expected to be expanded to additional financial institutions in the coming months.

"We are pleased to launch the cross-border remittance link between India and Nepal in partnership with NCHL," said Ritesh Shukla, managing director and chief executive officer of NPCI International, highlighting that this payment infrastructure simplifies remittances while promoting financial inclusion through a secure and low-cost payment corridor.

NCHL chief executive officer Neelesh Man Singh Pradhan called the launch a milestone in digital payments cooperation between the two countries.

"The successful launch of this linkage between Nepal and India is a testament to our close collaboration and commitment to making cross-border fund transfers seamless, real-time and convenient," he said.

The two organisations said the linkage would support millions of users by providing a transparent and traceable alternative to conventional remittance channels, while reducing transaction costs and settlement delays.