PM Modi swiped his RuPay card for buying Indian sweets.

The RuPay card was officially launched in the UAE on Aug.24 at the Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi in the presence of PM Modi.

The UAE is the first country in the Gulf where the Indian RuPay card has been launched. Twenty-one business groups from the UAE: NMC Healthcare, Lulu Group, Aster DM Healthcare, Landmark Group, Sobha Ltd, Apparel Group, Nikai Group, Regal Group of Companies, ITL Cosmos, Jashanmal National Company LLC, Allana Group FMCG Products, Petrochem Middle East, Transworld Group, Al Dobowi Group, VPS Healthcare, UPL Group, Conares, Al Maya Group, EPS Facilities Services Group, Emaar & DP World, were present during the event and pledged to accept RuPay as a mode of payment and stated that the initiative will go a long way in bringing India and UAE businesses together.

Simon Haslam, Group Chairman, on behalf of Mercury Payments Services LLC and Arif Khan Pyarebhai, Chief Digital Officer on behalf of National Payments Corporation of India, exchanged an MoU on RuPay Card in the presence of the Prime Minister.

PM Modi swiped his RuPay card for buying Indian sweets. The business community welcomed this step and stated that the initiative will go a long way in bringing India and UAE businesses together.

Dr Azad Moopen, Founder Chairman & Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare, said, "The launch of RuPay card in UAE will boost the financial independence and would help Indians travelling to UAE as well as those based in UAE. It is our privilege to accept the RuPay card for all payments in our 351 establishments comprising Aster, Medcare and Access brand of Hospitals, clinics and pharmacies in 6 GCC countries. We already accept RuPay in our Indian hospitals.”

The UAE receives close to three million Indian tourists annually. Acceptance of RuPay card in UAE will lower the charges as tourists will save on the exchange rate. The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) is association with Mercury Payments Services – UAE’s Domestic Scheme has made RuPay Cards acceptable at 175,000 merchant acceptance locations and 5,000 ATM and cash access locations within UAE.

RuPay is the first-of-its-kind India’s domestic debit and credit card payment network, with wide acceptance at ATMs, POS devices and e-commerce websites across India. It is a highly secure network that protects against cyber hacks and is India’s version of MasterCard and Visa.