Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) has entered into discussions with NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the international arm of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), over possible collaboration on digital payments and interoperability. The meeting was held in New Delhi during President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s visit for the 18th BRICS Summit in India.
LANDBANK President and CEO Lynette V. Ortiz led the discussions with NIPL Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Ritesh Shukla. The agenda focused on enhancing cross border payments, streamlining government collections and disbursements, and expanding access to digital financial services, particularly for overseas Filipinos and underserved communities. Both sides also looked at how linked payment systems might shorten transaction times for businesses, government agencies and Filipinos workers abroad.
“Digital innovation has the power to bring financial services closer to every Filipino, wherever they may be. Through our engagement with NIPL, LANDBANK is exploring solutions that can make transactions simpler, faster, and more accessible, while supporting a more inclusive and connected financial future for the country,” stated LANDBANK President and CEO Lynette V. Ortiz.
The talks follow remarks earlier this month by Trade Secretary Cristina A. Roque that the Philippines and NIPL had agreed to bring UPI technology to the country, with payments from government to citizens named as the first priority.
LANDBANK: What It Means
LANDBANK also met with Pine Labs in New Delhi, a company it already works with, to explore cooperation in digital onboarding, merchant acquisition, QR enabled transactions and artificial intelligence applications.
The state-owned lender also hosted a financial education forum for the Filipino community living in India, introducing its digital banking services, cybersecurity initiatives and investment options for managing finances from abroad.
For the Philippines, the potential benefits are fairly easy to see. A quicker and cheaper way to move money, whether that is government aid reaching households or small businesses accepting digital payments, could help bring more Filipinos into the formal financial system. For NPCI International, a partnership in the Philippines would take UPI further into Southeast Asia, where it already has links with markets such as Singapore and Malaysia.
Digital Trade Outlook: This engagement shows LANDBANK working on both ends of digital payments at once, talking to NIPL about how payments move and to Pine Labs about where they are accepted. What stands out is the decision to begin with government payments rather than tourist spending or remittances, which have been the entry point for most of UPI’s overseas partnerships so far. Routing benefits through LANDBANK would put digital payments in the hands of people who may never have used them before, giving merchant acceptance and cross border links a much stronger base to build on.
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