At the Global Fintech Fest 2025, NPCI Unveiled Several New Initiatives, Including AI-based UPI Help and IoT Payments via UPI
 

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In a strategic partnership between OpenAI and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), ChatGPT now supports UPI transactions, enabling users to browse, shop, and pay inside conversations. This feature, first rolled out in India, marks a major step toward integrating AI with everyday commerce.

ChatGPT’s New UPI Feature
 

Launched as a pilot programme, NPCI and Razorpay’s deal with OpenAI enables Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments directly through the AI chatbot ChatGPT. This is one of the first attempts to integrate India’s real-time payments network with an AI chatbot, to allow users to complete purchases within the chat interface itself.

As part of the pilot, OpenAI will test how UPI can be used to let “AI agents carry out transactions autonomously, in a safe, secure, and user-controlled manner,” the companies said in a joint statement. Inked on October 9, the initiative is currently in its testing phase to evaluate how AI-powered payments could be expanded across multiple sectors.

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“We’re excited to work with NPCI and explore how we can combine advanced AI with UPI, one of the world’s most trusted real-time payment networks, to unlock a new era of effortless and secure commerce,” said Oliver Jay, Managing Director of International Strategy at OpenAI.

Eligible Users and Banks
 

Banks like Axis Bank and Airtel Payments Bank have joined the pilot experiment, as per the Reuters report. Bigbasket, the Tata Group-owned e-commerce platform, is among the first services where users can shop directly within ChatGPT using UPI.

NPCI’s New Ventures
 

At the ongoing Global Fintech Fest 2025, NPCI unveiled several new initiatives, including AI-based UPI Help, powered by its Small Language Model (SLM), designed to assist users with payments, mandates, and dispute resolutions.

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The payments body also announced IoT payments via UPI, enabling transactions from connected devices such as cars, wearables, and smart TVs, and UPI Reserve Pay. This feature will allow users to block and manage credit limits for specific transactions.

Launch Timeline

Currently in its pilot stage, the service is limited to select users and platforms. During this time, NPCI and its partners will assess user experience, security, and transaction reliability before any broader rollout.

If it becomes successful, the AI integration inside UPI could pave the way for broader use of tools in online commerce, making payment interactions more conversational and context-driven.

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Currently, UPI is India’s leading digital payment infrastructure, which processes over 20 billion transactions every month. The initiative also reflects OpenAI’s growing focus on India’s digital payment ecosystem.