Payments Landscape Will Keep Evolving Due to Changing Consumer Expectations: Rishi Chhabra, Country Manager, Visa

Why It Matters

The insight signals a massive untapped market for digital payments in India and a strategic push toward secure, AI‑enabled transaction experiences that could reshape merchant‑consumer interactions.

Key Takeaways

• UPI and cards will coexist, each serving distinct use cases
• Tokenisation protects card data, with 500 million tokens in India
• Visa’s cloud‑native platform speeds product launches from months to weeks
• Cash still accounts for ~50% of Indian transactions, indicating growth potential
• Agentic AI will enable biometric‑approved, automated purchases via trusted agents

Pulse Analysis

India’s payments landscape has undergone a decade‑long transformation, moving from a card‑centric model to a hybrid environment where the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) fuels instant, QR‑based transfers. While UPI’s low‑cost merchant onboarding accelerated adoption among small retailers, credit‑card holders remain a fraction of the population, creating a dual‑track market where both cards and UPI address different consumer moments. This coexistence is reshaping how banks and fintechs design products, emphasizing speed, convenience, and inclusivity.

Security has become a cornerstone of this evolution. Visa reports over 500 million tokenised credentials in India, part of a global pool exceeding 15 billion. Tokenisation replaces sensitive card numbers with cryptographic tokens, limiting fraud exposure and enabling seamless, contactless experiences without visible card data. Coupled with Visa’s acquisition of cloud‑native platform Pismo, banks can now deploy new card‑issuing services in weeks rather than months, accelerating innovation while maintaining rigorous security standards.

Looking ahead, agentic AI promises to automate purchase decisions through trusted, biometric‑verified agents. Chhabra envisions a future where an AI assistant orders a coffee, initiates payment via tokenised credentials, and secures approval with a fingerprint or facial scan. This shift demands robust authentication frameworks, dispute mechanisms, and regulatory alignment, but it also opens new revenue streams for merchants and fintechs willing to integrate AI‑driven commerce. As consumer expectations continue to rise, the convergence of tokenisation, cloud agility, and AI will define the next wave of payment experiences in India.