Last checked 25 September 2026
Yes, you can use UPI with a foreign mobile number — but the list of countries is short, it differs from bank to bank, and Germany is not on it at either of the two banks we checked. Before reading any guide on how to activate it, check whether your country is supported at all. Most articles put that at the bottom.
There is also a more basic misunderstanding worth clearing up first, because it sends people down the wrong path entirely.
UPI from abroad is not a way to send money to India
This is the single most common confusion, and it matters because the two things solve different problems.
UPI for NRIs lets you operate an Indian bank account from abroad — scan an Indian QR code, pay a UPI ID, send to an Indian mobile number or bank account. The money moves within India, in rupees, from an account you already hold there.
It is not a remittance channel. It does not convert euros or pounds. It does not move money across a border. If your money is in a German or British account and needs to get to India, UPI is not the mechanism — you need an ordinary international transfer, and then UPI becomes useful for spending what has arrived.
| What you want to do | Is UPI the answer? |
|---|---|
| Send money from your German salary to family in India | No — that is an international transfer |
| Pay an Indian bill from money already in your Indian account | Yes |
| Pay a shop or a person in India while you are visiting or abroad | Yes |
| Move money from an Indian account to another Indian account | Yes |
Put plainly: UPI from abroad is a spending tool for money already in India, not a sending tool for money that is not.
Which countries are actually supported
Here is where the published guides quietly diverge, because the list is set by your bank, not by one national rule.
| Country | ICICI Bank | IDFC FIRST Bank |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Yes | Yes |
| Canada | Yes | Yes |
| France | — | Yes |
| Hong Kong | Yes | Yes |
| Malaysia | — | Yes |
| Oman | Yes | Yes |
| Qatar | Yes | Yes |
| Saudi Arabia | Yes | Yes |
| Singapore | Yes | Yes |
| UAE | Yes | Yes |
| United Kingdom | Yes | Yes |
| United States | Yes | Yes |
| Germany | — | — |
ICICI publishes ten countries. IDFC FIRST publishes twelve — the same ten plus France and Malaysia.
Germany appears on neither. Nor does Ireland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands or any other EU country except France at one bank. For a reader in Germany — the largest group this site serves — that is the answer, and it is not a matter of following the right activation steps more carefully.
There is a small irony in it: ICICI runs a Germany country website. Having a banking relationship with a German presence does not put a German mobile number on the supported list.
Both lists were read from each bank’s own current page on 25 September 2026. Other banks publish their own lists, and they may differ again — so check your bank’s list rather than a general article, including this one.
What you need before any of this works
Two requirements, and the second is where most attempts fail.
- An NRE or NRO account with a participating Indian bank. An ordinary resident savings account is not eligible.
- Your international mobile number registered to that account, from a country on your bank’s list.
The second is not the same as merely owning a foreign number. The number the bank has on file has to be the foreign number. People try to activate UPI with a number the bank has never seen, and nothing works, and no error message explains why.
Which of NRE or NRO you hold is a decision with consequences well beyond UPI — repatriation and tax treatment differ sharply between them. If you are choosing, or you are not sure which you have, read NRE or NRO: which account should the money go to before you set anything up.
The rough sequence
Steps vary by bank, so follow your own bank’s instructions rather than a generic list. Broadly:
- Hold an NRE or NRO account at a bank offering the facility.
- Have your international number registered against that account.
- Use a UPI app that accepts international numbers — often your own bank’s app.
- Link the account, create a UPI ID, set a UPI PIN.
If it fails, the cause is almost always one of the first two, not the last two. Check the country and check the registered number before reinstalling anything.
If your country is not on the list
There is no workaround worth pursuing, and some of what gets suggested is a bad idea.
Keeping an Indian SIM alive purely to hold a UPI registration is a common suggestion. It works, in the narrow sense, but it means your banking security sits on a number you are not carrying and may not receive — and an unused Indian number can eventually be recycled to somebody else, which is a problem we have watched play out in another market.
What to do instead depends on the actual goal:
- Sending money to family — an ordinary international transfer, which is what you wanted anyway. UPI was never the tool.
- Paying Indian bills — net banking on the Indian account, which does not depend on a mobile number’s country.
- Paying while visiting India — a different question, with options for foreign visitors that do not need an NRE or NRO account.
Questions people ask
Does UPI work from abroad?
With an international mobile number, only from countries your bank supports, and only with an NRE or NRO account. ICICI publishes ten countries; IDFC FIRST publishes twelve.
Can I use UPI from Germany?
Not with a German mobile number at either bank we checked — Germany is on neither list. France appears at IDFC FIRST only. Check your own bank’s current list before concluding either way.
Can I send money to India using UPI?
No. UPI moves rupees between Indian accounts. Getting foreign currency into India is an international transfer, and a separate thing entirely.
Do I need an Indian mobile number?
Not if your country is supported — that is the point of the facility. Your international number has to be the one registered against the account, though.
Will my bank charge foreign exchange fees?
There is no currency conversion involved, because the payment is rupees out of an Indian account. Check your own bank’s schedule for any charges it applies to the facility itself.
How we checked this
Read on 25 September 2026: ICICI Bank’s NRI article on using an international mobile number for UPI payments, for its list of ten countries — Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, UAE, UK, USA — and its description of what the facility can do; and IDFC FIRST Bank’s NRI guide, for its list of twelve — USA, UK, UAE, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Hong Kong, Malaysia, France — and the NRE/NRO account requirement. Account definitions come from the Reserve Bank of India’s FAQ on accounts for non-residents.
What we left out
We have not published a master list of every supported country, because there is no single list — each bank publishes its own and they differ, as the table above shows. Nor have we reproduced activation screens, which change with each app release and would be wrong within months.
We checked two banks. A bank we did not check may well support a country neither of these does, so treat the Germany conclusion as “not at ICICI or IDFC FIRST on this date” rather than as a national impossibility, and ask your own bank directly.
Afromium does not make test transfers. Both country lists on this page were read from the banks’ own pages on the date given and are quoted, not estimated. Supported-country lists change as banks extend the facility — check the current list with your bank before making plans around it.