AI will reshape future of digital payments in India: Tanya Naik, Pine Labs

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 10 : Technology and artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping India's fintech sector, making digital payments faster, safer, and more efficient than ever before, said Tanya Naik, Head of Online and Omni Channel Business at Pine Labs.
Speaking with ANI on the sidelines of the Global Fintech Festival (GFF) 2025 at Mumbai, Naik said that innovations in AI and biometric authentication are setting the stage for the next phase of digital commerce in India.
GFF 2025 was focused on sustainability and AI, two areas that Naik believes will shape the industry's future. "I also saw some really spectacular launches on biometric authentication, whether it was on UPI or cards, and I think that's really where the future is headed," she said. According to her, these new technologies will soon be available to Pine Labs' wide network of merchants and customers.
Naik also highlighted how AI is transforming the way fintech companies operate. "AI has changed the way we operate, whether it's about managing costs or operating at scale. If the same job can be done with AI today, you are not actually looking at a number of people to do that," she said. The use of AI, she explained, has made operations simpler and more efficient while improving customer experience.
She said that AI has also helped Pine Labs understand its customers better by analysing data more effectively. "It's only helped us provide a much better customer experience at scale and at optimum costs," she noted.
Naik expressed excitement about the Prime Minister's continued support for digital payments, calling his efforts "instrumental" in making UPI a part of everyday commerce in India. "I am particularly excited about the PM visit and the invite tomorrow. I know he's a big proponent of digital payments, and his drive has been instrumental in growing UPI. There is no question in my mind that if the Prime Minister himself comes in, and he came in last year as well, it's a testament to our success story as an industry," she said.
Amid rapid transformations in India's lending landscape, recently Pine Labs, in collaboration with McKinsey, has identified "credit line on UPI" (CLOU) as the next major growth driver for credit-linked payments at checkout. The growth of CLOU is expected to be fuelled by UPI's ecosystem.
The digital payment firm has also recently received Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) approval for its upcoming Initial Public Offer, which is expected this year. The company has filed the draft red hearing prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI in June.
Axis Bank and the India branches of Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. are providing advisory services to Pine Labs for the IPO.
Pine Labs has last raised capital in 2022, securing USD 50m from Vitruvian Partners. Backed by marquee investors such as Sequoia Capital India, Temasek, Mastercard, and PayPal.