Ajinkya Kawale

Business associations plan a No UPI Day on October 2 to protest the 0.4 per cent merchant discount rate set to apply to UPI merchant payments above Rs 2,000 from October 15

Amazon Pay India CEO Vikas Bansal says the company will focus on expanding its smart wallet and digital credit offerings for consumers and small businesses.

The five-year partnership will see Binance promote USDC across its global platform, particularly in emerging markets, while Circle provides infrastructure services

The fintech major has received in-principle approval for two UAE payments licences and plans to support domestic payment rails Aani and Jaywan ahead of its commercial launch

Proposal needs Sebi representation, followed by RBI, govt nod

Cash in circulation rises 12.5% as UPI grows, raising concerns that MDR could slow the shift to digital payments

UPI carries 0.02% MDR, capped at ₹300, while netbanking costs ₹8-12, negotiated between banks and payment service providers

Brokerages expect banks to receive the largest share of the levy, while Paytm, Pine Labs and other fintechs could gain from higher transaction-linked revenue annually

UPI apps say their Rs 1 share from a Rs 5 MDR on larger bill payments will not cover Bharat Bill Payment System commissions, while smaller transactions earn nothing at all

Experts say GST will raise the upfront cost of accepting eligible UPI payments, but registered businesses can offset the tax through input tax credit, subject to applicable rules.

Sources stress MDR is not a tax on UPI, since the fee is distributed among participants in the payments chain rather than accruing to the government

Distributors flag concerns over the new UPI merchant charges, while quick-commerce firms expect limited impact as most transactions remain below the Rs 2,000 threshold

Rahul Chari, cofounder and chief technology officer, outlines his plans for the next decade and addresses concerns around concentration risk

The focus is on user protection, mapping actual risks from potential liabilities when agents go rogue, and governance standards around evolving technologies like these

New UPI features enable tap-to-pay at PoS terminals and a unified transaction view, while Bharat Connect adds multicurrency capabilities for forex transactions

The fintech major has secured two licences from the Central Bank of the UAE to offer consumer payment instruments and e-payment acceptance infrastructure to merchants.

Razorpay CEO Harshil Mathur said AI could lower personalisation costs and help startups target niches such as Gen Z payments, HNI wealth management and multilingual platforms.

Gautam Aggarwal explains the opportunity for credit cards in the country, elucidates his strategy on services, and addresses his thoughts on a potential linkage to home grown payments network UPI

Suresh Sethi, who took charge as Visa's group country manager for India & South Asia in April this year, addresses the growth challenge for cards amid the growing dominance of UPI

Paytm, Pine Labs, Razorpay, Cashfree and Juspay are deploying AI agents across merchant and internal workflows, but monetisation remains nascent as most offerings are still being tested