PayPal Holdings Inc. has announced the launch of PayPal World, a new global payments platform designed to bridge domestic digital wallets with international commerce. The platform will allow consumers across different regions to make cross-border payments and shop with global merchants—without the need for a standalone PayPal account.
The service will support interoperability between local digital wallets and PayPal’s global network. Among the initial partners are India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Brazil’s Mercado Pago, Tencent’s Tenpay Global, and Venmo. This collaboration will enable users of these platforms to complete international transactions using their native wallets simply by selecting the PayPal option at checkout.
With UPI already dominating India’s digital payments space—handling nearly 85% of the country’s retail digital transactions according to official data—its integration into PayPal World is being seen as a major step in extending UPI’s presence on the global payments map.
“This partnership and integration with PayPal World is a major leap forward in taking UPI beyond India’s borders,” said Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL). “It demonstrates how global interoperability in payments can offer greater convenience and access to users worldwide.”
PayPal’s move comes as part of its broader strategy to strengthen its role in the international payments ecosystem, offering both consumers and businesses more flexibility in how they send and receive money across borders.
The company emphasized that the new platform will make global commerce more inclusive, particularly for users in emerging markets who primarily rely on local payment apps. By removing the need to register for new accounts or switch services, PayPal World aims to simplify the user experience while driving broader adoption of digital payments globally.