Resorts World Sentosa adds UPI payment option for Indian visitors

Resorts World Sentosa (pictured), a gaming and leisure complex in Singapore, now accepts payments from Indian visitors using their Unified Payments Interface (UPI) apps for bookings made on its official website. The service is enabled by a strategic partnership with Singapore-headquartered payment institution FOMO Pay and India’s NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), according to a Thursday press release from FOMO Pay. NIPL – the international arm of National Payments Corp of India (NPCI) – takes India’s digital payment systems to international markets. The latest partnership enables Indian tourists to pay using their local banking and payment apps in Indian rupees, while Singapore merchants receive settlement in Singapore dollars, the Thursday announcement said. Resorts World Sentosa is the first merchant partner in the strategic partnership between FOMO Pay and NIPL. The release cited Jenny Wang, senior vice president for resort sales and marketing at Resorts World Sentosa, as saying: “India is one of Resorts World Sentosa’s largest and fastest-growing visitor markets, with Indian travellers making up a significant share of guests who visit our destination for memorable experiences across our suite of hotels and attractions such as Universal Studios Singapore and the Singapore Oceanarium.” Ms Wang added: “By enabling UPI payments on our website, we are making it easier for Indian travellers to discover, plan and book their experiences with us before they arrive, creating a more seamless journey from inspiration to visit.” Louis Liu, founder and chief executive of FOMO Pay, said in prepared remarks that Indian consumers were “among the most digitally savvy in the world”. “At FOMO Pay, we work closely with real-time national payment systems like UPI to create conditions for more trusted flows between Indian consumers and Singapore businesses,” Mr Liu stated. Ritesh Shukla, managing director and chief executive of NIPL, said the company was “committed to expanding UPI’s acceptance by building seamless, interoperable real-time payment ecosystems with leading financial institutions worldwide”. “Our partnership with FOMO Pay marks a significant milestone in this journey,” Mr Shukla added. India has been one of the major feeder markets for Singapore’s tourism trade, according to the city-state’s official statistics. Singapore received 692,990 visitors from India in the first seven months of this year, making India the city-state’s fifth-largest source market, after China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia, according to data from the Singapore Tourism Board.