Muse, NPCI join hands for India's first wearables payment ecosystem

The new ecosystem allows users to make instant, secure payments by tapping Muses' smart ring on any NFC-enabled PoS terminal

Indian multinational tech startup Muse Wearables has partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch India’s first wearable payments ecosystem, powered by Muse Wallet and NPCI’s trusted RuPay network.

 

The new ecosystem allows users to make instant, secure payments by tapping Muses’ smart ring, “Ring One”, on any near field communication (NFC) -enabled point-of-sale (PoS) terminal — without the need for any phone, card, or wallet. Already live in over 40 countries and supporting cards from nearly 600 banks, Muse Wallet is now bringing its global platform to India through RuPay, “democratising access to secure, effortless digital payments” for millions of users across the country, including in Tier-II and -III cities.

 

Headquartered in Bengaluru with operations in the United States (US), Europe, and other regions, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras -incubated company, is a 200-member deeptech team designing and manufacturing “cutting-edge products that are beautiful, functional, and deeply human”. Completely developed, designed, and manufactured in India, Muse’s wearables and payment technology combine the “Make in India, Made for the World” ambition.

 

“We are taking on foreign tech giants in the digital-wallet ecosystem by creating a truly sovereign alternative for India. This proves that world-class technology can be built right here in India. With Muse Wallet, we are making cashless payments effortless. In the next two years, we aim to enable millions of RuPay cardholders to experience the convenience of wearables payments,” said K L N Sai Prasanth, cofounder and chief executive, Muse Wearables.

 

“With the help of trusted partners like NPCI and RuPay, Muse Wearables is proud to launch Ring One and Muse Wallet, India’s first secure element tokenisation platform. I am deeply grateful to the teams at NPCI and RuPay for their vision and collaboration; LivQuik, our first issuer partner; and Infineon for its invaluable technology partnership. Above all, I thank the incredible team at Muse Wearables which made this possible,” Prasanth added.

 

What is Muse Wallet?

 

At the heart of this ecosystem is Muse Wallet — a deeptech payment platform that enables tokenised, hardware-level transactions using a secure element embedded within Ring One. It claims to be India’s first secure element tokenization platform, developed in partnership with NPCI and RuPay to meet global EMV and PCI security standards.

 

Muse Wallet enables any RuPay credit or debit card to be converted into a secure digital token and stored directly inside a tamper-resistant secure element (SE) chip — the same grade of hardware security used in bank cards and passports. This ensures complete isolation of sensitive credentials from the phone’s operating system or applications. Muse Wearables has already begun onboarding issuing banks on to Muse Wallet and aims to support all issuers in India, making this new form of payment truly ubiquitous.

 

Prathyusha Kamarajugadda, cofounder and chief operating officer, Muse Wearables, said: “Our vision has always been to merge wellness, security, and convenience in one beautiful form factor. With Muse Wallet, we are building India’s first secure element tokenisation platform, enabling users to add any RuPay card and pay instantly — no phone, no wallet, just a tap of your ring. It is a proud moment to see an idea born in India set a new benchmark for personal technology globally.”

 

Sahil Ajay Choudhary, vice –resident, global business, Muse Wearables, added: “The global response to Muse Ring One Payments has been phenomenal. We are already live across 40 countries and 600 banks on the Mastercard network. With RuPay integration, we are now bringing that same world-class experience to India. We invite all issuers and banking partners to come on board and join us in building the next generation of contactless payments. A heartfelt thanks to our strategic partner NPCI for their vision, agility, and extraordinary support in making this launch possible.”