FinTra Holding's UPN opens consortium to payments and remittance firms
Members will help set strategy, roadmap and pricing principles as the network reports its first live transaction from a local wallet in Africa.
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Universal Payment Network has opened membership in a new consortium that gives payment networks, banks, digital wallets, remittance companies and open finance providers a direct say in how the network develops. The FinTra Holding-owned company announced the UPN Consortium at Money20/20 Middle East in Riyadh.
UPN operates in more than 50 markets and reaches more than 500 million accounts, with connections to over 100 alternative payment methods. The company also said it completed its first live transaction from a local wallet in Africa through the network, a step that moves it from development into live operations.
What members will influence
Participants in the consortium will contribute to strategy, the product roadmap, pricing principles and market priorities. They will also help shape cross-border payment and remittance products. UPN will run the consortium and continue building the underlying infrastructure, while member institutions get a defined structure for input.
The arrangement is meant to keep operational and regulatory duties clear as the network scales.
A neutral layer between systems
Dr. Waleed Sadek, founder and CEO of FinTra Holding, said payments keep expanding through card networks, digital wallets, instant payment systems, remittance services, banking and open finance. Those ecosystems often sit in separate technology, commercial and settlement environments. That separation adds complexity to connectivity and slows down entry into new markets, he said.
Sadek described UPN as a neutral interoperability layer that links participating networks and institutions through shared global infrastructure. Under that model, each institution keeps its local identity, its regulatory obligations and its customer relationships while reaching into other payment ecosystems.
For eligible institutions, connecting to UPN is intended to widen their ability to send and receive payments and remittances, cut the number of bilateral integrations they need, and open access to more transaction flows and possible revenue. Depending on corridor availability, regulatory requirements, commercial arrangements and settlement structures, participation may also support access to foreign currencies and liquidity.
Transaction types and eligibility
The network is built to carry peer-to-peer transfers between individuals and between connected accounts and wallets, person-to-merchant payments in stores, e-commerce and digital marketplaces, and business-to-business trade payments across markets.
Membership is open to eligible card networks, instant payment networks, national switches, banks, microfinance institutions, buy now, pay later providers, mobile money operators and digital wallet providers. Remittance companies, foreign exchange firms and FX service providers, open banking and open finance providers, account-to-account payment solution providers, processors, acquirers, government payment platforms and licensed digital asset service providers can also apply. So can institutions in clearing, settlement, liquidity and correspondent banking.
Applications are assessed on regulatory standing, market coverage, compliance controls, technical readiness, settlement capabilities, transaction use cases and the value an institution brings to the ecosystem.
Sadek said the next generation of global payments will come from connecting successful local systems rather than replacing them. The consortium, he said, gives institutions already moving money a practical way to help build a network with interoperability at its core while meeting commercial needs and respecting local sovereignty.
“We invite payment and remittance industry leaders around the world to join the dialogue and contribute to building this infrastructure together,” Sadek said.
The consortium is set up as an open community led by participating institutions. Members contribute to direction, roadmap, pricing principles, market priorities and strategy; UPN remains responsible for operating and developing the network.
