Razorpay’s Curlec, India’s NPCI to enable UPI payments in Malaysia

Razorpay is enabling UPI payments in Malaysia through its local unit Curlec, in partnership with NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL).

Razorpay is a Bengaluru-based payments and banking platform for businesses.

The integration will allow Indian travelers to pay Malaysian merchants using UPI apps, with payments settled in Malaysian ringgit.

The partnership was formalised at the Global Fintech Fest 2025.

According to tourism data, over 1 million Indian tourists visited Malaysia in 2024, spending more than 110 billion.

UPI processed about 20 billion transactions in September 2025, highlighting its widespread use among Indian consumers and businesses.

Razorpay Curlec is set to become one of the first payment service providers in Malaysia to accept UPI payments.

Indian visitors will not need international cards or extra integration to use the service.

The move aims to make cross-border payments easier and reduce reliance on cash for Indian tourists in Malaysia.

🔗 Source: Razorpay

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Razorpay Curlec (Razorpay’s Malaysian unit) now lets Malaysian merchants take UPI with instant settlement in ringgit 1.
Reports cite a 0.25% Merchant Discount Rate for DuitNow QR (Malaysia’s national interoperable Quick Response code payment standard) 2, with Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet) plus acquirers (acquiring banks and payment processors) saying fees have existed since 2019, though micro or small firms get waivers. Microenterprises have under RM300,000 in sales or fewer than five full-time staff, while small businesses have RM300,000–RM3 million or 5–30 full-time staff 2. Whether Curlec UPI follows the same pricing remains unknown.
Reach hinges on whether the setup runs on PayNet’s DuitNow QR network 3 or on Curlec’s base. FX markups and limits remain unclear. Any UPI wallet caps are also unknown, which hurts use for one million Indian visitors 1 4.

Indian visitors spent RM6.11 billion in Malaysia, up 71.7% year over year 1. Shopping drives 37.4% of domestic tourism spend 5. Retail hubs in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, and Perak should add UPI at checkout.
Point-of-sale providers and payment gateway integrators can pitch UPI acceptance as an edge; target hotels, duty-free retailers, or restaurant chains popular with Indian travelers.
Travel sites and destination marketing organizations (tourism boards and agencies) should add UPI accepted to pre-trip ads to lift conversions among 28.2 million Indians who travel abroad every year 6.