8B, a Central Asian fintech infrastructure company, and PayU, India’s leading diversified fintech platform, have signed a strategic partnership to bring UPI, one of the world’s fastest-growing digital payment systems, and other Indian payment offerings to Central Asia. The integration of PayU’s APIs into 8B’s merchant network across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and the broader region offers clear benefits, enabling users in India to make payments to merchants in Central Asia via UPI, net banking, and local cards. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in strengthening the digital payment infrastructures between the two economies, laying the first structural bridge for growing trade and tourism opportunities.
This partnership goes beyond facilitating payments for foreign tourists. India is not only a source of tourists to Central Asia—it is an economy whose merchants and businesses are increasingly active in the region. India–Kazakhstan bilateral trade reached USD 923.3 million in 2025. The economic relationship between India and Central Asia is not a tourism story. It is a structural trade and investment story, with tourism as its most visible leading indicator.
Bogdan Co-Founder & Chief Innovation Officer, 8B points out, “The India–Central Asia corridor is moving faster than the rails, roads, and payment systems built to serve it. The Indian visitor landing in Almaty today comes with digital habits shaped by UPI. Asking them to navigate a different payment experience abroad creates unnecessary friction. This is about making cross-border commerce feel as effortless as commerce at home - opens the door to a broader commercial relationship in which tourism is only the starting point.”
“Payments should not be a barrier for international travel or trade. Through our strategic partnership with 8B, we are eliminating any payment-related friction - making it effortless for Indian travellers to pay with UPI and other local methods across Central Asia while opening new growth corridors for merchants in the region. Our collaboration represents a significant step forward in PayU’s international growth strategy, through which we're not just enabling transactions, we're laying the foundation of the future of digital payments infrastructure between the two economies, one that connects India's digital-savvy consumers with Central Asia's rapidly growing travel and commerce sectors.” said Nikhil Mehta, Senior Vice President, Partnerships & Business Head,Growth Initiatives (Cross Border Payments & Affordability), PayU.
The 8B–PayU partnership connects two existing national-scale systems—UPI with 8B’s Central Asian merchant network, enabling effortless India-Central Asia payments today.
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