In a landmark deal, NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL) has partnered with ACLEDA Bank Plc. of Cambodia to link India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with Cambodia’s national QR system, KHQR (Bakong), creating a two-way cross-border QR payment corridor. Under this agreement, Indian tourists visiting Cambodia will be able to pay at over 4.5 million KHQR-enabled merchant locations using their regular UPI apps. Meanwhile, Cambodian travellers in India will get access to more than 709 million UPI QR codes — letting them transact as if locally.

The move aims to make payments simple, real-time and currency-agnostic for travellers, bridging digital payment infrastructure across nations. The service rollout — slated for the second half of 2026 — promises to ease spending on shopping, dining, travel and services for cross-border travellers. For merchants and businesses too, it offers access to a wider customer base without complicating the payment setup. Overall, this partnership represents a significant step toward internationalizing UPI and broadening digital-payment interoperability across Asia.