RBI wants to add Visa, Mastercard credit cards to UPI soon

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Editor's note: The Reserve Bank of India is formulating a plan to allow credit cards issued by card networks Visa and Mastercard to be linked to the Unified Payments Interface, according to three industry executives aware of the matter. The banking industry is expecting an official announcement from the central bank before the end of the financial year 2022-23, say two of these executives.   Currently debit cards and only select credit cards powered by the National Payments Corporation of India’s RuPay network are allowed to be synced with the popular digital payments system. The move to open up over 70 million active Visa and Mastercard credit cards on UPI will not only increase its already impressive scale, but also pave the way for banks to issue credit through the instant payment channel.   It was only in June 2022—about six years after the launch of UPI—that the RBI allowed credit cards powered by RuPay to be linked with UPI. This has allowed eligible customers to create a virtual payment address against their credit cards and make transactions without the use of a physical …