# Maldives’ Favara goes live with India’s UPI for cross-border transfers 2026-08-08T08:44:22+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) and the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) have launched the Favara-UPI cross-border payment corridor, enabling real-time fund transfers from the Maldives to UPI-enabled bank accounts in India. The service went live on July 30, 2026, starting with two banks: Bank of Maldives Plc and Maldives Islamic Bank Plc. Customers of these banks can send person-to-person transfers directly through their mobile banking apps using the Favara payment rail, the Finance Ministry said on Friday. The integration, a result of collaboration between MMA, RBI, NIPL, and other stakeholders, is a milestone for digital financial connectivity between the two countries. Future phases will add QR-based merchant payments and other use cases. UPI is now accepted in nine countries, including Cambodia, Singapore, the UAE, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Bhutan, Qatar, and Sri Lanka. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Tags: cross-border payments, digital payments, Maldives, NPCI, RBI, UPI Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/maldives-favara-goes-live-with-indias-upi-for-cross-border-transfers/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/maldives-favara-goes-live-with-indias-upi-for-cross-border-transfers/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.