JPMorgan deepens its collaboration with India’s National Payments Corporation to streamline international transfers, integrating real-time payment systems across Asia and beyond, while boosting blockchain-based settlement capabilities.
JPMorgan is deepening its work with India’s National Payments Corporation as banks race to knit together faster payment systems across borders, according to Christine Tan, the lender’s head of financial institutions group sales for Asia-Pacific payments. Tan said the bank can support NPCI in markets where it operates, spanning close to 70 countries, as it looks to help reduce friction in international money transfers and make local real-time rails more useful beyond domestic payments.
The effort builds on an earlier collaboration between J.P. Morgan Payments and NPCI to provide real-time foreign-exchange rates for cross-border Unified Payments Interface transactions. That integration links JPMorgan’s FX platform and API tools with NPCI’s UPI infrastructure, and the companies have said it is intended to make international payments faster and more transparent across multiple currencies. The arrangement also extends UPI’s reach to nine countries, including Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Nepal, Bhutan, Mauritius, France, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Qatar.
Tan said UPI has become a reference point for building payment infrastructure that is open to both individuals and businesses. She said the next opportunity lies in connecting similar real-time systems across borders, particularly in Asia, where Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia are among the markets developing such networks. Her comments reflect a broader push in the region to link domestic payment rails that already operate at speed but still face delays, cost and compliance checks when money moves internationally.
She also pointed to blockchain as a growing part of JPMorgan’s payments strategy. The bank has been expanding its Kinexys digital-payments platform, including blockchain-based settlement tools and programmable payments, while JPMorgan has said its digital infrastructure is designed to support faster and more efficient cross-border transfers. Tan said the firm is also working on fraud protection through blockchain-based account validation, and that it sees opportunities in e-commerce, manufacturing and distribution, where Asia’s payments networks are increasingly central to trade flows.
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