BHIM UPI, the Indian government’s digital payment app, was launched in Bhutan via a virtual ceremony by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Bhutanese counterpart Lyonpo Namgay Tshering.
Bhutan becomes the first country, in India’s immediate neighbourhood, to use the BHIM app for mobile-based payments and “to adopt UPI standards for its QR deployment”, stated a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs.
Speaking at the event, Sitharaman averred, “The services have started in Bhutan under India’s neighbourhood first policy and India is proud of our achievement and feel pleasure in sharing it with our valued neighbour. BHIM UPI is one of the brightest spots and achievements for digital transactions in India during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 100 million UPI QRs have been created in the last 5 years.”
Expressing gratitude to the Government of India, Tshering said “the bond between the two countries has become stronger each passing day.”