Zimbabwe is in talks with India’s NIPL to adopt UPI-based payments, potentially cutting transaction costs and improving digital transfers across the country….reports Africa daily News Desk
Zimbabwe is in talks with NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), the overseas arm of India’s National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), to adopt technology based on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for domestic real-time payments. The proposed system could reduce transaction costs, speed up money transfers and provide a common payment network for banks, mobile-money operators and fintech companies, according to a report by India Narrative.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mushayavanhu said the proposed payment infrastructure could offer a low-cost alternative to card-based transactions, particularly for smaller domestic payments.
Negotiations between Zimbabwe and NIPL could be concluded by October 31, the report said. Cross-border payments and remittance links could also be introduced at a later stage.
Zimbabwe already processes substantial volumes of digital transactions, but the country lacks a common, low-cost payment network connecting its financial service providers.
The country’s national payment system handled 238 million electronic transactions in the fourth quarter of 2025, with mobile money accounting for around 87 per cent of the total volume. The number of active mobile financial services users stood at nearly 11 million.
The proposed UPI-based infrastructure could connect banks, mobile-money providers and fintech companies through a shared system, allowing transfers to be settled in real time.
How could India’s UPI model benefit Zimbabwe?
The potential adoption comes as Zimbabwe continues to depend on remittances from citizens living abroad. According to the report, diaspora inflows reached $2.45 billion in 2025, up from $2.15 billion in 2024, averaging around $6.7 million a day.
The United Kingdom and South Africa each accounted for slightly more than a quarter of the early-2025 inflows, the report said. Remittances are an important source of household income and foreign exchange for Zimbabwe, with mining being the country’s other major source of foreign currency earnings.
Reducing the cost of sending money across borders could therefore benefit households and businesses that depend on overseas transfers.
The report cited World Bank estimates putting the average cost of sending $200 to sub-Saharan Africa at nearly 8 per cent in 2025, compared with a global average of about 6.5 per cent. This remains well above the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal target of 3 per cent.
Costs along Southern African Development Community (SADC) payment routes can be even higher, according to the report. High charges imposed by intermediaries reduce the amount received by families and businesses.
A shared digital payment infrastructure could help reduce reliance on multiple intermediaries and make domestic and cross-border transfers more efficient.
Which other African countries are exploring UPI technology?
India’s UPI has become a major part of the country’s digital payments ecosystem. Government data cited in the report show that it accounted for approximately 49 per cent of global real-time payment volumes in 2025 and 84 per cent of India’s digital payments in the previous financial year.
NIPL has been expanding the international reach of UPI-style payment infrastructure by working with countries interested in developing interoperable digital payment systems.
Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda and Mozambique have also signalled interest in collaborating with NIPL, the report said.
If Zimbabwe concludes an agreement, the move could form part of wider efforts to develop faster and more affordable digital payment systems across Africa.
The outcome of the negotiations, including the proposed implementation arrangements and any future cross-border payment links, remains to be determined.
