Planning a Greece trip? There's one big payment change you should know

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Tuesday witnessed a live demonstration of the Eurobank-NIPL (NPCI International Payments Limited) partnership enabling UPI services at Eurobank's headquarters in Athens. The demonstration was attended by Eurobank CEO Fokion Karavias and Fairfax Digital Services CEO Sanjay Tugnait.

The launch marks another significant milestone in the global expansion of India's homegrown digital payment system, which has been rolled out across several countries in recent years.

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"With UPI now live in Greece, eligible customers can transfer money instantly, securely and seamlessly, with transaction costs reduced significantly to a fraction of those associated with conventional money transfer methods," Goyal said.

He added that the rollout represents another important step in taking India's digital public infrastructure to the global stage.

Goyal's Greece Visit Focuses on Economic Cooperation

Goyal's visit to Greece featured a series of high-level engagements aimed at strengthening bilateral economic ties.

The programme began with a meeting with Eurobank's leadership team at Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens, where discussions centred on enhancing financial cooperation and exploring new investment opportunities.

The Indian delegation also participated in the India-Greece Business Council Meeting and Business Forum hosted by the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).

Three sector-specific roundtable discussions were held on:

Infrastructure (Energy, Ports, Logistics, Shipbuilding, Warehousing, Trade, Gem & Jewellery)
Digital Innovation and Defence

Food Processing and Agriculture

The sessions brought together business leaders from both countries to identify areas of collaboration and strengthen partnerships across key sectors.

The day's proceedings concluded with an address by Goyal, who highlighted the shared vision of India and Greece to deepen trade, investment and innovation-led growth.

Later, the India-Greece Business Summit, attended by ministers from both nations along with senior industry leaders, reaffirmed the commitment to expanding economic cooperation.

A networking reception hosted by the ACCI concluded the day's engagements, providing an opportunity for business leaders and policymakers to strengthen institutional and people-to-people ties.

According to the Commerce Ministry, the engagements on the first day of Goyal's visit reflect the growing momentum in India-Greece relations and underscore both countries' commitment to building a robust, future-oriented economic partnership.

What is UPI?

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is India's real-time digital payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

It enables users to link multiple bank accounts to a single mobile application, allowing instant bank-to-bank transfers, merchant payments, bill payments and peer-to-peer transactions. The platform also supports "collect requests," enabling users to request payments that can be accepted and completed at their convenience.