New Delhi, Jul 5 (IANS): After the successful implementation of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for online ticket booking at Eiffel Tower, NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), on Friday, enabled the acceptance of UPI at Galeries Lafayette’s flagship store in Haussmann, ahead of Paris Olympics.

This is in partnership with Lyra, a French leader in securing e-commerce and proximity payments.

Starting July 26, the Paris Olympics is expected to draw a large number of Indian visitors. According to Jawed Ashraf, Ambassador of India to France and Monaco, this will pave the way for the wide acceptance of UPI in France and support its internationalisation as a means of digital payments.

"Our collaboration with Galeries Lafayette in Paris not only enables UPI payments at a prestigious venue but also boosts UPI adoption as a convenient and secure cross-border payment method for Indian tourists," Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NPCI International, said.

As per NPCI, this partnership will benefit a multitude of Indian tourists visiting Paris every year, allowing them to use UPI at the Galeries Lafayette flagship store.

"Lyra is happy to have enabled for the first time in Europe the in-store acceptance of UPI in the iconic Department stores Galeries Lafayette Haussmann in Paris," said Christophe Mariette, Chairman of Lyra India.

NPCI also mentioned that this initiative aims to broaden UPI’s market presence in France and Europe, driving further growth and adoption as a secure payment solution.