Visa Launches Partnerships to Promote Digital Payments in India

Visa is working with firms like Paytm and PayU to promote digital payments usage in India.

The company unveiled the products and solutions at the center of these partnerships during the Global Fintech Fest 2024, Visa said in a Saturday (Aug. 31) news release.

“These advancements, developed in collaboration with a range of partners, are set to drive digital payment adoption across India by streamlining payment processes and enhancing transaction security and customer experience,” the release said.

Among the collaborations is one with Indian FinTech Paytm to create the Paytm NFC Card Soundbox, described as India’s first two-in-one device that combines mobile QR payments with a card machine for offline merchants.

Meanwhile, Axis Bank, working with Visa and Mintoak, has rolled out Neo for merchants — a mobile app for payment acceptance, transaction reporting, and service requests.

And PayU and Visa had introduced PayU Push Provisioning, a platform that “facilitates seamless sharing of card tokens between merchants and banks via a unique-single platform,” the release said.

Visa is also working with HSBC Bank on two projects: a point-of-sale (POS) device that integrates QR scanning and a soundbox, and the HSBC Premier Signature Debit Card, which offers benefits such as hotel perks, higher spending limits, special dining offers, and global airport assistance.

India’s digital transformation is a topic that has been covered at length in this space, with PYMNTS writing that the country “traditionally reliant on cash, embarked on a digital payments journey 15 years ago.”

“The process was marked by key milestones like the introduction of the instant Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in 2016,” that report continued. “The 2016 de-monetization further accelerated the transition to digital payments, leveraging the existing trend of Indian citizens using mobile phones for various transactions.”

Research by PYMNTS Intelligence has found that digital wallets have become the preferred payment method for more than half of all retail purchases in India, with 8 out of 10 of digital wallet users opting to use UPI. Bank transfers are the second-most used underlying payment method, making up 12% of digital wallet payments.

“This preference for digital wallets and UPI reflects the convenience and ease of use they offer to Indian consumers,” PYMNTS wrote.