Mastercard says UPI complements digital payments ecosystem, not a competitor

Mastercard views the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as a complementary platform that has accelerated the adoption of digital payments in India, rather than as a competitor, Gautam Aggarwal, Division President for South Asia and Country Corporate Officer, India, Mastercard, said on Thursday.

Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of the 3rd India International FinTech Festival 2026 organised by ASSOCHAM, Aggarwal said Mastercard considers India's homegrown payment system an enabler that has significantly expanded the country's digital payments ecosystem.

"We don't see it as a challenge. We, in many ways, see it as complementary. The reality is UPI and national payment systems globally, for that matter, have actually increased the education of consumers in understanding the benefits and the fact that digital payments exist, and that has really allowed the market to become a much bigger playground. So, for us, UPI has been that enabler that I think we couldn't have been as big without," he said.


Aggarwal said that despite India becoming the world's largest digital payments ecosystem in absolute terms, there remains significant headroom for growth.

"While we like to talk about the fact that India is the world's largest digital payments ecosystem today, in absolute terms we are, but in terms of relative penetration of what is in the country still available, we still have a long way to go. We're still scratching the surface in that sense. Our achievement is great, but there is a lot more to go as an industry," he said.

Highlighting cybersecurity as a key priority, Aggarwal said Mastercard has been investing in the segment for nearly three decades and has substantially increased investments as digital payments have grown exponentially.

"We are probably one of the world's oldest innovators and investors when it comes to cybersecurity. We've been innovating around cyber because we had to. The business that we were in, we had to make sure that there was trust in our system and there were no cyber frauds in our system. There was no money that was being laundered," he said.

He added that the company has accelerated investments through acquisitions and in-house innovation while ensuring that enhanced security does not come at the cost of user convenience.

"We've been buying companies, we've been innovating internally. We're making sure that when we are innovating in this space, we are not doing it in a way that creates friction because what's important in today's world is convenience, friction and security is all balanced," Aggarwal said.

He also lauded India's digital payments regulatory framework, describing it as among the best globally, while stressing that continued investment in consumer awareness and education on safe digital payment practices and fraud prevention will be critical to sustaining trust as the ecosystem continues to expand.