8B and PayU Build First India-Central Asia Payment Bridge, Bringing UPI to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan

8B, a Central Asian fintech infrastructure company, and PayU, India's leading diversified fintech platform, signed a strategic partnership on April 8, 2026 to bring UPI, Net Banking, and Indian debit and credit cards to merchants across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, establishing what both companies describe as the first structural payment bridge between India and Central Asia [1][2].

A Corridor Without a Payment Layer

The partnership addresses a structural gap that has grown more conspicuous as Indian tourism to Central Asia has accelerated. India's outbound travel expenditure reached $18.82 billion in 2024 and is projected to climb to $55.39 billion by 2034, according to market data cited by both companies [1][3]. The growth on the ground is already visible: Kazakhstan received an estimated 250,000 Indian visitors in 2025, up from 146,000 the prior year, as visa-free access and expanded air routes brought the two regions closer together [1]. Uzbekistan recorded a 22.7% rise in Indian arrivals in the first five months of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, while Kyrgyzstan welcomed approximately 10 million total visitors in 2025, up from 8.86 million in 2024 [1].

Almaty alone received 1.14 million visitors in the first half of 2025, with 323,500 foreign arrivals and India ranking as its top source market. Yet until the 8B-PayU integration, Indian travellers arriving in Central Asia had no reliable way to use their domestic payment tools. UPI, which has become the default rail for consumer transactions inside India, was unavailable at Central Asian merchant points of sale. The result was avoidable checkout friction in a corridor where both demand and diplomatic engagement are rising sharply.

How the Integration Works

The technical foundation of the partnership is an API integration connecting PayU's Indian payment infrastructure to 8B's existing merchant network across the three target markets. Through this integration, Central Asian merchants already connected to 8B's platform can accept UPI payments from Indian tourists without installing new hardware or completing additional onboarding [1][2]. The transaction flows through existing merchant infrastructure, with UPI added as a new payment rail on top of the current acceptance stack.

Beyond UPI, the integration supports Net Banking and Indian-issued debit and credit cards, including cards on the RuPay network. In Kazakhstan, local regulatory compliance is handled through Zesta LLP, a payment organisation licensed under licence No. 02-23-179, ensuring that every transaction processed in the country meets domestic regulatory requirements [1].

The payment flow is structured as a one-way bridge: Indian consumers transact in Central Asia, and funds are routed to local merchant bank accounts through compliant cross-border financial channels. From the end-user perspective, the experience mirrors a domestic transaction; Indian travellers use the same apps and authentication flows they use at home.

India-Central Asia Payment Method Coverage

Source: 8B and PayU partnership announcement, April 8, 2026 [1]

Executive Perspectives

"The India-Central Asia corridor is expanding faster than the existing payment infrastructure is able to support it. Indian travelers arriving in Almaty today bring payment expectations shaped by UPI and a seamless domestic digital experience. Requiring them to adapt to an unfamiliar payment journey abroad introduces avoidable friction. Enabling cross-border commerce to feel as intuitive as commerce at home not only improves the travel experience, but also creates a foundation for a broader commercial relationship in which tourism is just the starting point."

• Bogdan Zadorozhny, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, 8B [1]

"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."

• Nikhil Mehta, Senior Vice President, Partnerships and Business Head, Growth Initiatives, PayU [1]

From Tourism to Trade

The commercial logic of the partnership extends beyond the tourism use case. India-Kazakhstan bilateral trade reached $923.3 million in 2025, and the broader India-Central Asia economic relationship has been deepening through investment, energy, and logistics linkages [1]. Central Asian merchants selling digital goods, air tickets, and online services to Indian consumers have faced the same checkout friction as physical retailers. Under the new integration, those merchants gain access to Indian-market payment preferences at the point of conversion, a change that both companies expect to improve transaction completion rates across e-commerce and travel booking verticals.

For 8B, the PayU partnership is an extension of its core strategy of connecting global payment infrastructure to Central Asian merchant rails. The company operates licensed cross-border payment infrastructure in Kazakhstan, among other markets, and has positioned Central Asia as a proving ground for emerging-market payment connectivity models. For PayU, the deal marks a concrete step in an international expansion strategy that targets corridors where Indian consumer payment habits can be extended to foreign merchant networks.

Central Asia's Tourism Scale

The regional backdrop gives the partnership immediate commercial relevance. Kazakhstan welcomed 15.7 million foreign visitors in the first nine months of 2025, with accommodation revenue from tourism rising to $536.8 million, up $88.1 million year-on-year [1]. Uzbekistan was ranked by UN Tourism among the seven fastest-growing tourism destinations in the world for 2025 [1]. The scale of inbound demand across all three markets now requires payment infrastructure that can accommodate the preferences of the largest and fastest-growing source market in the region.

The 8B-PayU integration does not require Central Asian governments or banking regulators to establish bilateral interoperability agreements; it operates through existing commercial licensing and API connectivity, which means the technical layer is live immediately. The structural nature of the arrangement, connecting two national-scale systems rather than enabling ad hoc transaction workarounds, is what both companies characterise as a first for the India-Central Asia corridor.

References

[1] EIN Presswire, "8B and PayU Partner to Bring UPI and Other Indian Payment Methods to Central Asia," April 8, 2026: https://www.einpresswire.com/article/904163113/8b-and-payu-partner-to-bring-upi-other-indian-payment-methods-to-central-asia [2] Economic Times Travel, "Indian tourists can now pay via UPI in Central Asia through PayU-8B tie-up," April 8, 2026: https://travel.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/technology/indian-tourists-can-now-pay-via-upi-in-central-asia-through-payu8b-tie-up/130114649 [3] The Paypers, "8B, PayU bring UPI and Indian payment methods to Central Asian merchants," April 8, 2026: https://thepaypers.com/payments/news/8b-payu-bring-upi-and-indian-payment-methods-to-central-asian-merchants