You can now use blink in India to Scan and Pay at more than 50 million places that display a UPI QR code. Against the backdrop of the launch of UPI services in Mauritius on 12 February under the aegis of the Bank of Mauritius (BoM) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), blink by Emtel, the award-winning FinTech app of Mauritius, announced the exciting news of the possibility to now use blink in India for payments.
Ahead of the formal launch ceremony scheduled for 13 June, the CEO of Emtel, Kresh Goomany, explains that this feature of blink has been made possible by the collaboration between the BoM and NPCI. As such, blink customers having an account with banks such as the State Bank of Mauritius, MauBank, Bank One, Bank of Baroda, and the State Bank of India (SBI Mauritius) can now use blink to make payments in India. Other banks are working on the technical development on their side; once done they will also be live on blink for such payments in India. Kresh elaborated on the many advantages to blink users who are travelling to India – whether for tourism, shopping, leisure or medical purposes.
He noted:
“Now, blink works in India. blink customers will be able to scan BHIM UPI QR codes in India to make payments, one can transact at millions of shops and outlets that use BHIM UPI QR codes, and the payment will be deducted in Mauritian Rupees in your Mauritian bank account. Using blink in India is as simple and easy as using blink in Mauritius. One needs to be a blink user, have a smartphone connected to data or Wi-Fi.
The flow is very simple. From your blink app, click on the scan & pay tab and scan the INDIA UPI QR codes such as Phone Pay, Gpay and Bharat Pay. Some service providers like Paytm, HDFC bank , ICICI and few others will be enabled soon by NPCI India.
When one Scans a UPI QR code in India, one will be asked to enter the amount to be paid Indian Rupees and get the equivalent in Mauritian Rupees. As soon as one confirms, the payment is processed. The merchant will get a notification of the payment in Indian Rupees and the blink user will also receive a notification of the payment done from his Mauritian bank account. Likewise, Indians will also be able to scan blink UPI enabled QR codes in Mauritius from their India payment apps.”
In a nutshell, the ability to use blink to scan and pay in India will ease transactions for Mauritian nationals travelling to India and Indian nationals travelling to Mauritius. This move enhances financial integration between the two countries, broadening the customer base and facilitating the lives of travellers.
“It is a matter of pride for us that customers can now use blink to scan and pay UPI QR codes in India. blink by Emtel has been an integral part of Mauritius UPI journey. We have been working on this project with the Bank of Mauritius since 2023 and are the only mobile operator PSP licence holder to enable this service. With blink, one can scan and pay in Mauritius, in Rodrigues, in Agalega and now in India. blink has always been at the forefront of enabling the digital payment ecosystem in Mauritius, and we will continue to pioneer exciting payment innovations in the future as well.,” concluded Kresh Goomany.
When a customer initiates a transaction on blink while scanning a UPI QR code, the app will provide a dropdown showing banks that are ready and give an alert if your bank is not yet ready for this service.
How it works
Mauritians going to India will be able to scan and pay any BHIM UPI QR code via blink
-> Customer opens the blink app;
-> Customer opens ‘scan and pay’ tab and scans the BHIM UPI QR;
-> If the QR code is not a BHIM UPI QR code, the customer will get a notification “Invalid QR”;
-> If the QR code is valid, the customer will be requested to enter the INR amount to be paid and the Remarks (Purpose of transaction);
-> The customer will then be shown the equivalent amount in MUR (Mauritian Rupees)
-> Once customer confirms, the transaction is processed and the Indian Merchant will receive a confirmation of the payment as per the existing channels in India;
-> the blink Customer will be notified via SMS OR in the blink app with payment confirmation page on blink;
-> Customer can also check the transaction in the ‘History’ tab;
There is no service fee charged by blink – for now, ‘Zero Fre’.
Kresh Goomany Speech
Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen and a very warm welcome to all of you.
It is with great pride that I address you today to announce yet another exciting and significant milestone in our innovative journey towards enhancing digital payments and financial integration. A milestone not just for blink but also for the country and the population at large. Whatever we have done, whatever we have implemented and proposed as products, features and solutions have always been formulated with the customers in our centre of focus.
Today, we are taking digital payments to another level.
When we started blink in May 2022, we had been the first mobile operator to propose an app that allows customers to connect different bank accounts on a single app, blink – irrespective of whether the customer is an Emtel customer or not. All the customer needs is to have a bank account, a mobile phone connected to data or wifi.
The features and the benefits we have provided on blink have created a lot of awareness amongst the population and increased the adoption of digital payments – whether it is users or merchants. Today one can see QR codes powered by blink all over the place – whether it is supermarkets, shops, tabagies, street hawkers and even in the ‘la foire’. We are happy to be contributing enormously in easing people’s lives and a digital economy. If you think about it, we do not have anything to envy compared to leading nations – all we need is more adoption of digital payments.
Today, we bring yet another first in Mauritius – another feature that will benefit All Mauritians traveling to India. Today blink goes beyond the boundaries of the Republic of Mauritius. Ladies and gentlemen, I am very proud to announce one can now use blink in India – to scan and pay at UPI enabled QR codes at more than 50 million outlets/merchants in India. You may recall UPI was launched by the Prime Minister of India and the Prime Minister of Mauritius in Feb 2024. This initiative has been made possible by the close collaboration by the Bank of Mauritius Maucas Payment System and the NPCI – the national payment corporation of India. And we thank them for their support in making this happen.
We are immensely proud that blink by Emtel is the first operator in Mauritius to enable such payments between the 2 countries. We are honoured to be the FIRST Payment Service Provider (PSP) license holder in Mauritius to enable Mauritians effect payments in India by using blink. Likewise, Indians will be able to use their payment app in Mauritius.
Now any Mauritian travelling to India can use blink for their payments – whether for business, Leisure, shopping, medical purposes etc – by scanning UPI enabled QR codes.
The transaction is safe, secure, convenient and instant.
How does it work?
• You need to be a customer of blink, else install blink now on your smartphone and link your bank account before travelling.
• When in India and you want to Scan a QR Code and make a payment
◦ Ensure your phone is connected to data or wifi
◦ Check if the QR code is a UPI QR Code such as Phone Pay, Gpay, Bharat Pay etc. (Other service providers like Paytm, HDFC bank will be enabled soon by NPCI India).
◦ Open blink and open scan and pay
◦ Scan the QR code of the merchant you want to pay
◦ Once QR code is validated, you insert the amount in Indian rupees that you want to pay and the relevant remarks.
◦ When you proceed, you will see the equivalent amount in Mauritian Rupees. (The real-time currency conversion is handled by Bank of Mauritius & NPCI)
◦ Confirm the payment and enter your PIN
◦ The merchant will receive a notification of the payment in the normal way in India
◦ You will get your payment notification in blink. Same will also be in your history of payment
◦ The amount is deducted from your bank account in Mauritius and Merchant will get the payment in Indian rupee.THAT’S IT. DONE. VERY SIMPLE. JUST LIKE YOU ARE IN MAURITIUS
If you receive the message Invalid QR when trying to make a payment, it means the QR code is not yet UPI compatible.
As of date the local banks which are available for blink to work in India – are SBM, Maubank, BankOne, SBI and Baroda. MCB, ABSA and other banks will be available soon.
This launch today is a testament to our commitment to make payments even easier.
Now, you can Use blink in India to scan UPI QR codes and pay. We are excited to embark on this journey, as we look forward to a future of simpler, faster, and more secure payments for everyone.
Let us now demonstrate to you how one can use blink in India.
Thank you for your attention.
