New Delhi, Nov. 26 -- The Reserve Bank of India and NPCI International Payments Limited have begun work on linking the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), India's real-time payments system, with the European Union's TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) system.

Aimed at improving cross-border payments, this is one of the first major tie-ups for UPI outside Asia. It also marks the biggest payments partnership so far between two central banks, and is expected to pave the way for more cross-border collaboration, faster and cheaper international payments, and more use cases for both retail and commercial transactions.

Mint takes a closer look at what this inter-linking means for UPI and its users worldwide.

TIPS is a market infrastructure...