Global Fintech Fest 2026 Spotlights Agentic AI, Tokenisation as Fintech Industry's Next Frontier

PM Modi Calls for Converting Agentic AI Potential into Real-World Impact

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 1

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in Mumbai on September 8, challenging the fintech industry to transform emerging technologies into tangible outcomes. 1

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, tokenisation and quantum technologies are opening new possibilities in financial services, but Modi stressed the need to convert these capabilities into real-world impact. The theme of 4

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—"Potential to Impact: Agentic AI | Tokenisation | Quantum: Trusted, Connected, Global Systems for Inclusive Finance"—reflects the industry's pivot toward autonomous, programmable and secure systems. Modi outlined four priorities for the fintech industry: achieving top-notch 5

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, developing ethical data practices, building stronger regulator-industry innovation ecosystems, and creating a Fintech Consumer Protection Index to help consumers compare protection standards transparently.

RBI Governor Emphasizes Trust and Financial Inclusion

RBI Governor 2

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urged the fintech industry to prioritize trust-building alongside technological advancement. Speaking at 2

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, Malhotra emphasized that while India's digital payments transformation has achieved scale, the next phase must focus on 2

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at the last mile. Reaching underserved customers in tier III and tier IV towns, women entrepreneurs, MSMEs, and small farmers through micro-insurance, small pensions and small-ticket credit remains economically challenging for traditional banking institutions. The 2

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Governor stressed that 2

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must be accompanied by greater focus on 2

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, cybersecurity and operational resilience. Malhotra warned that trust takes years to build but can be lost in minutes, urging fintech companies to treat customer data as a fiduciary responsibility. He announced that the RBI would recognize the Unified Fintech Forum as the second Self-Regulatory Organisation in the fintech sector, and unveiled a framework for 2

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of corporate bonds developed jointly with SEBI.

AI-Driven Fintech Products and Partnerships Dominate Day Two

The second day of 3

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showcased multiple 3

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between traditional banks and AI firms. Mahindra Finance expanded its partnership with AI unicorn Sarvam, deploying voice AI across 12 Indian languages for sales, collections and employee engagement operations in rural markets. The NBFC claimed to have executed over 1 Cr customer calls to date, representing one of the largest voice AI deployments in Indian financial services. 3

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and fintech unicorn Open launched i-Mandate, an 4

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layer designed to prevent 4

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failures before transactions occur by analyzing historical account patterns and engaging borrowers across voice and WhatsApp in 22 languages. Bengaluru-based Gnani AI extended its sovereign AI platform Artha to BFSI enterprises, offering over 200 pre-built workflows for payment reconciliation, document-driven underwriting and loan processing. Pine Labs partnered with L&T Finance to introduce an agentic commerce feature enabling AI agents to book flights within user-defined spending limits without manual intervention.

NPCI Launches AiNxt Platform and New UPI Features

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unveiled AiNxt, an open-source agentic AI platform designed for building and deploying AI agents under a "bring your own models" framework. The platform includes components like AiNxt OS, Code, CLI and Enterprise for creating machine-readable audit trails for 4

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integration. RBI Governor Malhotra launched two new UPI features: MyUPI, which provides users with a consolidated view of UPI transactions and AutoPay mandates across banks and apps, and UPI Tap & Pay, allowing NFC-enabled smartphones to make payments by tapping POS terminals without internet connectivity. PIN-less transactions up to Rs 5,000 are permitted, while higher amounts require UPI PIN entry on the terminal. NPCI is expected to announce a Unified Agent Protocol enabling AI agents to execute small-ticket 5

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without explicit user authorization for every transaction. The Department of Financial Services introduced open-source Android ATMs serving as 4

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banking units, piloted by nine lenders including State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda.

UPI Expansion and Cross-Border Payment Innovations

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called for 5

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to countries with large Indian diasporas and strong trade ties, emphasizing that Indians send the maximum remittances globally but lose a portion to transaction costs. As of September 2026, UPI is live in 11 countries. The payment infrastructure has grown from 1.78 Cr transactions in FY17 to over 24,162 Cr transactions in FY26, a nearly 13,000X increase, with transaction value rising from ₹7,000 Cr to approximately ₹314 Lakh Cr. In August 2026, UPI processed a record 2,451 Cr monthly transactions worth ₹29.82 Lakh Cr. PhonePe partnered with Visa to introduce three cardless payment features operating on Visa's network separate from UPI International: Tap to Pay for tokenized card payments, Cross Border Scan to Pay covering 14 markets including Singapore and Japan, and Smart Accept allowing merchants to accept contactless payments on smartphones. Jio Financial Services' payments division partnered with Citi to launch a cross-border payments service enabling Indian businesses to accept international payments with reduced settlement times.

Industry Participation and Future Outlook

1

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in 1

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drew participation from more than 70 countries, with over 700 speakers, 5,000 participating companies and 400 investors. Modi observed that the fintech ecosystem is becoming younger and more willing to take risks, with dreams becoming bolder. The Indian fintech economy is projected to cross $250 Bn in revenue by 2030. The Prime Minister emphasized that fintech companies must move beyond payments into credit, insurance and pensions while extending services to populations with historically limited access to formal banking. The government recently formed an inter-ministerial group to develop a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy for India's financial sector, responding to concerns around AI systems capable of autonomously identifying software vulnerabilities. Modi stressed that rapid adoption of new technologies must be matched by stronger security and trust mechanisms, with 5

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and 1

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becoming non-negotiable as the 1

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matures.