The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted RuPay to issue foreign currency cards, a move that will progressively bring it on par with global card networks such as Visa and Mastercard.

The central bank on Thursday said banks were allowed to issue RuPay prepaid forex cards for use at ATMs, point of sale (PoS) machines and online merchants overseas. This will help expand the payment options for Indians travelling overseas, improving the scope and acceptability of the RuPay cards worldwide.

“ RuPay Debit, Credit, and Prepaid Cards will be enabled for issuance in foreign jurisdictions, which can be used internationally, including in India,” RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said, while unveiling the second bi-monthly monetary policy of this fiscal. 

RuPay cards were introduced to bring down the cost of transactions, which until now were dominated by international payment gateways like Visa and Mastercard.

In June 2022, RBI approved the use of RuPay credit cards on UPI (unified payments interface). The rivals of RuPay don’t have access to this facility so far.

According to a report by merchant platform Pine Labs, transaction volume on the RuPay network is projected to experience a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20% over the next three years. By the fiscal year 2025-26 (April-March), transaction volumes are anticipated to reach 3.2 billion, a significant increase from the 1.8 billion transactions recorded in 2022-23.

“Action on internationalising RuPay Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards points to RBI’s earnest approach on broad-basing the scope of the cards and increasing comfort for Indians travelling abroad,” said Punjab National Bank managing director and chief executive officer Atul Kumar Goel.

 RBI’s ambitious  Payments Vision Document 2025  had the global outreach on its radar for RTGS,NEFT, UPI and RuPay cards . UPI has been integrated with Singapore’s PayNow, and Japan is expected to join the UPI system as well. UPI is also expected to be adapted by other countries as well.

RuPay debit and credit cards issued by Indian banks have already gained international acceptance through bilateral agreements with global partners and co-badging arrangements with international card schemes.

“RuPay debit, credit, and prepaid cards will be enabled for issuance in foreign jurisdictions, which can be used internationally, including in India. These measures will expand the reach and acceptance of RuPay cards globally. Necessary instructions will be issued separately,” the RBI said in a statement.