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A New Wave of Digital Sovereignty
India’s digital economy is undergoing a rapid transformation, and one of the biggest game changers is the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Since its launch in 2016, UPI has revolutionized how Indians transactâfast, seamless, and virtually free of cost. With over 11 billion transactions a month and growing international adoption, UPI isnât just a local success story anymore. It’s becoming a model for digital payment ecosystems worldwide. In this evolving landscape, Shark Tank India judge and tech entrepreneur Anupam Mittal has made a bold call: itâs time for India to leverage UPI to disrupt global financial giants like Visa and Mastercard.
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Anupam Mittal, founder of People Group and a prominent investor on Shark Tank India, recently urged the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to expand UPI’s global footprint and take on entrenched players like Visa and Mastercard. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he emphasized how UPI allows for “global-scale frictionless & costless transactions” and questioned why India is still tolerating 2-5% transaction fees from international payment systems on multi-trillion-dollar markets.
Mittalâs statement comes at a time when UPI is gaining traction internationally, with established partnerships in countries such as the UAE, Singapore, and France. The NPCI, which manages UPI, has been at the forefront of these expansions and has made strategic decisions to make UPI safer. Recently, the NPCI began phasing out the âCollect Paymentsâ feature (a pull-based method) due to increasing fraud. This feature allowed merchants to request payments directly through users’ apps, but growing scams have forced the NPCI to restrict its use to verified merchants. Peer-to-peer payment requests under this method will now be capped at âš2,000 to enhance safety.
Mittalâs comments not only spotlight the growing dissatisfaction with high-fee systems like Visa and Mastercard but also underscore the readiness of Indian fintech to lead globally. His statement was also a call to action, encouraging Indian institutions to believe in homegrown solutions and scale them worldwide.
What Undercode Say:
Mittalâs bold challenge to global payment monopolies is not just a startup founderâs opinionâitâs a glimpse into a larger shift happening in global finance. The global digital payments industry, valued at over \$10 trillion, has long been dominated by a handful of Western players. Visa and Mastercard alone control over 75% of card-based transactions globally. Their transaction fees, which range from 2% to 5%, might seem negligible to individuals, but at scale, they extract enormous value from every economy they touch.
Enter UPIâIndia’s no-cost, real-time payment platform that democratizes access and cuts down this fee-based exploitation. With UPI transactions now crossing 11 billion a month and rising, India has effectively built the world’s most inclusive and high-volume payment infrastructure. Whatâs more, UPIâs expansion abroad isnât just symbolicâit could set the tone for digital sovereignty in developing nations that currently depend on foreign fintech services.
Mittalâs call to action is timely. With rising cyber threats and growing economic nationalism, many countries are reassessing their dependence on foreign-controlled tech infrastructures. India, by exporting its fintech prowess through UPI, can offer a cost-effective, secure, and interoperable alternative. But to do this, NPCI must act swiftlyâstandardizing protocols, building APIs for international markets, and onboarding foreign merchants.
The move to restrict âCollect Paymentsâ is a good step for securing the platform, but it also reflects the tension between scale and safety. As UPI goes global, its fraud mitigation frameworks will need to mature alongside. Innovations like AI-driven scam detection, biometric authentication, and user transparency will be essential in winning international trust.
If India plays its cards right, UPI could become what GSM was to telecomâa universal payment protocol exported to the world. And that would mean not just financial empowerment for Indian citizens but strategic economic leverage for the nation on the world stage.
đ Fact Checker Results:
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UPI enables real-time, near-zero cost transactions in India and is expanding globally.
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Visa and Mastercard charge fees between 2â5% per transaction, depending on merchant agreements.
â NPCI is phasing out
đ Prediction:
India will likely formalize UPI as a globally exportable fintech infrastructure within the next 24 months. Countries in Asia, Africa, and even parts of Europe will begin to pilot UPI-style systemsâsome through direct partnerships, others through inspired clones. Meanwhile, pressure on Visa and Mastercard to lower transaction fees will grow as countries realize the strategic and financial benefits of a domestic, low-cost alternative. Expect policy and tech diplomacy to become crucial tools in UPIâs global journey.
References:
Reported By: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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