How agentic AI could transform the way we make digital payments, Pg13

Key Highlights:

• Agentic AI is poised to transform digital payments by enabling AI agents to manage entire payment journeys, leading to agentic commerce.
• The Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026 in Mumbai served as a platform for showcasing advancements in AI integration within the payments industry.
• The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) introduced MyUPI, an AI-powered revamp for delegated pre-authorised payments and dispute resolution.
• NPCI also launched Agentic Orchestration and Messaging (ATOM), a backend tool designed to facilitate AI interaction across the financial ecosystem.
• Amazon Pay demonstrated its Smart Wallet, which incorporates agentic AI features for streamlined transactions.

Detailed Insights:

• While conventional AI enhances digital safety and reduces friction in payments, agentic AI aims to create a completely frictionless, end-to-end payment experience.
• Agentic AI models execute tasks for users autonomously within set limits, without requiring continuous prompts, thereby streamlining the "procurement to payment" process for businesses.
• Agentic commerce is a digital trade model where AI agents discover, negotiate, and execute purchases on behalf of customers, without bypassing necessary authorization.
• These AI-powered tools can identify optimal payment methods, potentially reducing the need for multiple authentications like One-Time Passwords (OTPs) to a single instance.
• Consumers maintain oversight and the ability to modify any component of the transaction during the agentic payment process.
• Amazon Pay's Smart Wallet integrates smart recommendations, biometric authentication, tap-and-pay functionality, and the ability to auto-execute small-ticket regular purchases within a specified limit.
• Similar features for pin-less small-ticket purchases are also offered by other digital wallets such as Samsung Pay, Google Pay, and PhonePe.
• MyUPI includes features like a Safety Switch to block suspicious transactions, UPI Number Delink, automated chargeback processing, and transaction replay capabilities.
• ATOM is designed to automate enterprise workflows and processes within the UPI ecosystem, managing system integration, change management, partner onboarding, testing, and certification.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Agentic AI: An artificial intelligence model that executes tasks for users autonomously within defined limits, without requiring constant prompts.
• Agentic Commerce: A digital trade model under which AI agents streamline the entire buying process, including payments, on behalf of customers.
• Unified Payments Interface (UPI): An instant real-time payment system developed by NPCI facilitating inter-bank peer-to-peer and person-to-merchant transactions.
• Fintech: The integration of technology into financial services to improve and automate their delivery and use.