Fintechs Shift From Payments Dominance to Credit Expansion After a Decade of UPI Success

Fintechs have taken control of India’s payment landscape by building services on the Unified Payments Interface, which celebrated its 10‑year anniversary and delivered ten major milestones that turned cash‑heavy transactions into digital flows.

RBI data shows that UPI transactions now account for the majority of digital payments, while the introduction of selective merchant discount rate (MDR) charges is being tested to fund ecosystem trust and sustainability.

Fintechs are shifting focus to credit products, citing the need to deepen customer relationships and leverage the trust built through UPI, a theme highlighted at the Global Fintech Fest where industry leaders called for “trust‑by‑default” in new lending services.

MPCI rolled out NFC‑based tap‑and‑pay cards and an AI‑driven MyUPI app, simplifying transactions and showing how fintech innovation continues to expand beyond basic payments toward richer services.