FM Sitharaman launches India's BHIM-UPI payment system in Bhutan

Bhutan became the first country to adopt India's Unified Payment Interface (UPI) standards for its quick response (QR) code. In a virtual ceremony, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Bhutanese counterpart Lyonpo Namgay Tshering jointly launched BHIM-UPI in Bhutan. Bhutan is also the first country in India's immediate neighbourhood to accept mobile-based payments through the BHIM App. While speaking on the occasion, FM Sitharaman said that the services have started in Bhutan under India's neighbourhood first policy."There could not be any better place to launch it because every Indian tourist who goes to Bhutan goes with such a warm feeling to the land of happiness," she said. "BHIM-UPI is one of the achievements of India in terms of fintech in which India invested a lot and we have also encouraged our start-ups to come up with solutions. Therefore, BHIM-UPI stands out as one of the very good successful experiments that we have undertaken," she said.