Key facts
- Dilip Asbe, CEO of India's National Payments Corporation (NPCI), believes AI will be crucial for the next phase of UPI's growth.
- AI is expected to drive user acquisition, enhance fraud detection, and facilitate credit distribution.
- NPCI is exploring voice-based solutions and the development of specialized small language models for the Indian financial ecosystem.
- A 30% market share cap for UPI apps is set to take effect on December 31, 2026.
Dilip Asbe, the CEO of India's National Payments Corporation (NPCI), believes artificial intelligence will play a significant role in the future growth of digital payments, particularly for the Unified Payment Interface (UPI).
Asbe stated that AI will be instrumental in reaching the next wave of users, enhancing fraud prevention, and improving credit distribution to users and merchants with digital footprints. He also highlighted the potential for AI-powered voice and multilingual solutions to simplify user onboarding, though he noted that voice models need further accuracy improvements.
In the context of AI in finance, Asbe suggested that India can adopt AI-powered financial services with robust regulations and user protections, similar to trends seen in the U.S. with companies like Coinbase and Robinhood. He also sees an opportunity for Indian banks and FinTechs to develop specialized small language models leveraging the country's rich datasets.
NPCI has already launched initiatives like the FIMI model to resolve user disputes, which is reportedly serving over a million users. The organization is also working to foster competition within the UPI ecosystem, with a plan to cap any single app's market share at 30% by December 31, 2026, to address concentration risks.