India, four SE Asia countries plan instant retail cross-border payments

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The central banks of India, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines are working together to start an instant cross-border retail payments platform by 2026, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) said on Monday.

BIS, dubbed the central bankers' central bank, said it aims to link each country's instant digital payment system -- like India's United Payment Interface (UPI) and Singapore's PayNow -- as part of Project Nexus, its initiative to enhance cross-border payments.

India and the other four countries will be the founding members of the platform, while Indonesia will serve as a special observer, the BIS said.

"Even with just the first wave of connected countries, Nexus has the potential to connect a market of 1.7 billion people globally, allowing them to make instant payments to each other easily and cheaply," Agustín Carstens, general manager of the BIS, said in a statement.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Savio D'Souza)