Overview of Global Fintech Fest 2025 held in Mumbai – Part I

The sixth edition of the Global Fintech Fest (GFF 2025), was held from October 7- 9,2025 at the Jio World Convention Centre and Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre(NMACC) in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

• The Payments Council of India (PCI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) is organising the event.

About Global Fintech Fest 2025(GFF 2025):

Purpose: It is a leading platform for innovation and collaboration in financial technology, bringing together fintech leaders, policymakers, and innovators since its inception in 2020 to shape the future of finance.

Theme: “Empowering Finance for a Better World Powered by AI: Augmented Intelligence | Innovation | Inclusion”.

Key People: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Ministry of Finance(MoF) participated in the inaugural session of the GFF 2025.

• Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi and the United Kingdom(UK) PM Keir Starmer delivered the keynote addresses during the event.

Highlights of GFF 2025:

Forex Settlement system:

Launch:Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a Foreign Currency Settlement System (FCSS) at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).

• The system will enable the real-time settlement of foreign currency transactions within GIFT City’s IFSC, eliminating the delays under the existing correspondent banking mechanism.

Faster Processing:It reducing settlement times from nearly 24 hours to just 30 seconds. Standard Chartered’s India branch has been selected to handle USD clearances under this system.

Initiatives launched by RBI:The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched four new digital payment initiatives for customer convenience at the GFF. They were developed in partnership with the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI).

UPI (Unified Payment Interface) Help: The NPCI has launched AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based UPI HELP, an intelligent support system powered by its in-house Small Language Model (SLM) trained on extensive payment datasets.

• The system, initially available in English will assist users in checking transaction status, managing mandates, and resolving disputes, while automating responses and streamlining complaint handling for banks.

IoT (Internet of Things) Payments with UPI: The RBI has introduced IoT Payments with UPI, extending India’s real-time payments network to smart devices such as connected cars, wearables, and smart TVs.

• This feature enables user-authorized, context-based transactions through voice, text, or sensor triggers, facilitating seamless payments for services like EV (Electric vehicle) charging, groceries, and entertainment.

Banking Connect: It is developed by NPCI Bharat BillPay Limited (NBBL) and introduces interoperability to net banking, thereby simplifying merchant onboarding and settlement process.

• Customers can make payments directly through their bank applications, eliminating the need for multiple logins or complex navigation, thereby ensuring a faster and more seamless user experience.

UPI Reserve Pay: This allows users to block a portion of their credit card or pre-approved credit line for specific recurring or one-time expenses.

Navi App: Indian financial services company Navi UPI introduced few innovative at GFF2025.

Biometric-based payments: Navi becomes the first UPI app in India to enable biometric-based payments at scale, allowing users to approve transactions through fingerprint or facial recognition instead of entering a UPI Personal Identification Number (PIN).

UPI Onboarding: Navi has streamlined UPI onboarding with fewer steps and auto-verification, enabling users to create a UPI ID, link their bank account, and start transacting within minutes, reducing registration drop-offs.

Reserve Pay: It enables users to block a fixed amount in their linked savings account or on a RuPay credit card, allowing multiple debits against it later.

EV Recharge: Through Bharat Connect, Navi enables electric vehicle owners to top up their charging wallets directly within the app.

UPI Initiatives:

UPI PayPal World: NPCI and PayPal announced a collaboration, where the UPI will be the first to launch on the PayPal World, enabling Indian users to make seamless cross-border payments and allowing international merchants to easily accept payments from India.

Revolut: London(UK) based digital finance firm has announced that it is set to launch its payment platform in India, marking its foray into one of the world’s largest digital payments markets.

• The platform will enable Indian users to make domestic and international payments through the UPI and Visa.

PayU company initiatives:

PayU: The PayU has launched UPI NXT Stack, which includes two new products UPI NXT and TPAP NXT designed to make digital payments faster, more reliable, and easier for merchants.

• UPI NXT aims to solve issues such as payment failures, delayed refunds, and complex integrations.
• TPAP NXT supports key UPI functions like virtual payment address creation, peer-to-peer transfers, merchant payments, Autopay, and one-time mandates.

Wibmo: At the GFF 2025, Wibmo, a PayU company, unveiled its ground-breaking Intelligent Authentication Suite, revolutionizing digital payments authentication for banks and merchants.

• The Intelligent Authentication Suite offers an alternative to OTPs (One-time Password) through secure biometric-first authentication, offering financial institutions and merchants a comprehensive solution for unprecedented security, speed, and user experience.

PhonePe Innovations and partnership:

SmartPOD: The PhonePe in the digital payments space, has launched its next-generation SmartSpeaker, named “SmartPOD” at GFF 2025.

• The SmartPOD is designed and manufactured in India and combines the functions of a Point-of-Sale (POS) device and a smart speaker into one compact unit.
• It can process payments from Visa, Mastercard, RuPay, and American Express and it supports NFC (New Field Communication) tap and EMV (Europay, MasterCard, and Visa) chip methods.

Wish Credit Card: It has also partnered with Utkarsh Small Finance Bank (USFB) to introduce a new credit card called Wish Credit Card.

• The Wish Credit Card is linked to a Fixed Deposit (FD) starting from Rs. 2,000, which determines the credit limit while also earning interest for the user.

Initiatives Launched by HDFC:

Pitch for Business Platform: HDFC Bank launched the ‘Pitch for Business’ initiative, providing a platform for startups and innovators to present their fintech solutions to the bank’s senior leadership.

My Business QR: The HDFC bank announced the launch of “My Business Quick Response (QR) ”, powered by Vyaparify, a digital innovation designed to give Bharat’s entrepreneurs their first commerce identity.

• This brings together payments, identity, communication and commerce under one unified solution.
• When the customers scan the QR, they also discover the merchant, view their products/services, chat via WhatsApp and even save the contact directly in the phonebook.

Startup Partnerships: HDFC Bank collaborated with 60+ startups at GFF 2025 to co-create the future of fintech through innovative solutions and technologies.