UPI Reaches Greece as Paytm Enters Europe: Another Step Towards Cross-Border Payment Interoperability

The first is the launch of UPI acceptance in Greece. The second is Paytm obtaining a Payment Institution licence in Luxembourg, positioning the company for expansion across the European Union.

Although these announcements involve different organisations, they point to the same long-term trend: cross-border payments are increasingly being built through interoperability between domestic payment systems rather than through entirely new global networks.

UPI Is Now Available in Greece

Through a partnership between Eurobank and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), merchants in Greece can now accept payments directly from customers using their Indian UPI accounts.

The primary target audience is India's rapidly growing outbound tourism market together with the expanding Indian diaspora across Europe.

For Indian consumers, this means paying abroad using the same banking applications they already use at home, without relying on international cards or learning new payment methods.

Greece joins a growing list of countries where UPI has already expanded internationally, including:

• Singapore
• United Arab Emirates
• Qatar
• Nepal
• Bhutan
• Cambodia
• France
• Mauritius
• Sri Lanka

Eurobank has also announced plans to introduce UPI acceptance in Cyprus, further extending the payment network within Europe.

Paytm Chooses Europe for Its Next Phase

Another important development comes from Paytm, one of India's largest fintech companies.

The company has obtained a Payment Institution licence in Luxembourg, only a few months after establishing its European subsidiary in January.

This licence enables Paytm to pursue passporting across the European Union, allowing the company to expand its regulated payment services throughout EU member states.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect is Paytm's commercial strategy.

Rather than launching another consumer wallet for European users or focusing exclusively on the Indian diaspora, the company plans to build B2B acquiring infrastructure for merchants.

Its positioning is closer to companies such as Stripe or Adyen, with a particular focus on enabling merchants to accept payments from Asian consumers while supporting international payment flows.

The Bigger Picture: Domestic Payment Networks Are Going Global

These announcements illustrate a broader transformation taking place across the payments industry.

For years, domestic payment systems primarily served local markets. Today, many of them are expanding internationally to support tourism, cross-border commerce and global merchant acceptance.

This trend is visible across multiple regions:

• UPI expanding internationally
• Pix increasingly supporting cross-border initiatives
• Wero building a pan-European payment network
• Unified QR schemes connecting domestic payment ecosystems across Asia

Instead of replacing local payment methods, the industry is increasingly connecting them.

For merchants, payment service providers and financial institutions, this creates new opportunities to serve international customers using the payment methods they already trust.

Why Interoperability Matters

As more national payment schemes become available outside their home markets, merchants face a growing integration challenge.

Supporting every domestic payment system individually is costly and operationally complex.

This is where interoperability becomes increasingly important.

Rather than maintaining dozens of separate integrations, businesses increasingly seek infrastructure capable of connecting multiple domestic payment ecosystems through a unified interface.

At 8B, we see this as the next stage of cross-border payments.

Our infrastructure connects merchants, PSPs and financial institutions to local payment methods and government-backed QR payment networks through a single integration, helping simplify international payment acceptance while preserving local payment experiences.

As domestic payment systems continue expanding beyond their borders, interoperability is becoming one of the defining themes shaping the future of global payments.

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