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NPCI eyes AI-led growth to take UPI beyond one billion daily transactions

Prime Highlights

  • NPCI plans to use AI to help UPI exceed one billion daily transactions through better onboarding, fraud detection and credit access.
  • AI-powered dispute resolution platform FIMI is already serving more than one million users.

Key Facts

  • NPCI operates the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), India’s real-time digital payments system.
  • PhonePe and Google Pay together account for more than 80% of UPI transactions, while BHIM holds around a 1% market share.

Background

According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the future of UPI will be powered by artificial intelligence (AI), and the number of transactions per day will rise from over 750 million to over one billion.

Speaking at Mumbai Tech Week in March, NPCI Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Dilip Asbe said AI would play a key role in expanding the user base, preventing fraud and improving access to credit. He said NPCI, the Reserve Bank of India and the government would work together to use AI for onboarding new users, detecting fraudulent activity and supporting merchants and customers with digital credit.

Asbe added that AI-powered voice and multilingual solutions could simplify onboarding, although voice-based payments are still at an early stage because the technology needs higher accuracy.

He said India could also adopt AI-powered financial services if supported by strong regulations, user protection measures and clear consent frameworks. He added that Indian banks, fintech firms and the wider ecosystem have an opportunity to develop specialised small language models using the country’s rich financial data.

NPCI’s AI-powered dispute resolution model, FIMI, launched in 2025, is already helping more than one million users resolve payment issues and cancel mandates.

On competition, Asbe acknowledged that PhonePe and Google Pay control more than 80% of the UPI market. He said greater competition would emerge once sustainable business models encouraged new fintech players to invest. He added that NPCI’s BHIM app is intended to remain a secure and sovereign payment alternative rather than target a specific market share.