Asia-Pacific · GDP rank #5

India

IN · INR @ 0.0104/USD

The single most important instant-payments story in the world. UPI cleared 22.35 billion transactions and ₹29 lakh crore (~US$340bn) in April 2026 alone, a +25% YoY expansion. The policy architecture (UPI + RuPay + Aadhaar-eKYC + Account Aggregator + ONDC) is the de facto reference stack for emerging-market digital finance. India is one of five founding IPSs inside BIS Project Nexus.

Tab 05

Cross-border

Inbound and outbound remittance corridors, tourism flows, FX markup on retail cross-border, and the country's posture on stablecoin adoption. Corridor figures come from the World Bank RPW feed or the publishing central bank; both are cited when they disagree.

Remittance inflows

US$125B

USD · 2024

World's largest remittance-receiving country every year since 2008.

Remittance outflows

US$10.2B

USD · 2023

Inbound tourism spend

₹260B

INR · 2024

Outbound tourism spend

₹1.45T

INR · 2024

Avg. corridor cost

4.9%

% · Q4 2024

Net position

Net receiver

Top inbound corridors

  • United StatesUS$28B

    via bank + MTO

  • United Arab EmiratesUS$23B

    via MTO + UPI-AE corridor

  • Saudi ArabiaUS$12B

    via MTO

Cross-border card

Card flow leaving and arriving

Cards issued domestically and used abroad reflect outbound consumer travel and cross-border e-commerce; volume acquired from abroad reflects inbound tourism and foreign online shoppers.

Issued volume spent abroad

₹1.45T

INR/year · 2024

Acquired volume from abroad

₹260B

INR/year · 2024

FX cost

What consumers pay above the interbank

Retail FX markup is the spread between the mid-market rate and the rate the consumer receives — the single largest friction point in small-ticket cross-border.

FX regime
managed-float with capital controls
Reference
RBI-managed float against USD; capital-account controls under FEMA

Source · Reserve Bank of India

FX markup not reported.

Full reference

Remittances

Net Position: receiver

Source: