Delhi: The Favara-UPI cross-border payment corridor between the Maldives and India has officially gone live, enabling individuals in the Maldives to transfer funds in real time to UPI-enabled bank accounts in India through their mobile banking applications.
The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) announced the successful launch of the integration between the Maldives Instant Payment System, Favara, and India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on 30 July 2026.
The launch marks a significant milestone in cross-border digital financial connectivity and bilateral economic cooperation between the Maldives and India.
Real-time cross-border fund transfers through Favara
With the introduction of the Favara-UPI payment corridor, individuals in the Maldives can now transfer funds in real time to beneficiaries in India.
Transactions are initiated in Maldivian Rufiyaa (MVR) and credited to recipients in Indian Rupees (INR) through UPI-enabled bank accounts.
The service is designed to simplify cross-border remittances while enabling faster and more convenient digital transactions between the two countries.
Initial rollout with two Maldivian banks
The initial phase of the Favara service has commenced with the participation of two local banks:
Customers of these banks can initiate person-to-person (P2P) transfers directly to UPI-enabled bank accounts in India using their mobile banking applications through the Favara payment rail.
Also Read: LankaPay: NPCI International Expands UPI Merchant Acceptance in Sri Lanka
Permitted remittance categories
Under the new Favara-UPI corridor, the permitted remittance categories include:
Family-maintenance-related remittances under both Foreign Inward and Foreign Outward Remittance.
Gift-related remittances permitted under Foreign Outward Remittance.
These categories enable eligible users to send funds conveniently while complying with applicable remittance regulations.
Collaboration between MMA, RBI and NIPL
The implementation of the Favara-UPI integration reflects close collaboration among the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), participating financial institutions, and other stakeholders in both the Maldives and India.
Favara-UPI agreement and future roadmap
The agreement for the Favara-UPI integration was executed between NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) and the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) in July 2025.
According to the announcement, the payment corridor achieved full operational readiness following an accelerated 10-day timeline covering testing, certification, onboarding, and live validation.
Future phases of the collaboration will introduce additional cross-border payment use cases, including QR-based merchant payments and other innovative digital payment services, with the objective of further strengthening economic and financial ties between the Maldives and India.
Countries where UPI is accepted
UPI is currently accepted in the following nine countries, enabling Indian travellers to make seamless digital payments abroad:
- Cambodia
- Singapore
- United Arab Emirates
- France
- Mauritius
- Nepal
- Bhutan
- Qatar
- Sri Lanka
