Razorpay, NPCI and OpenAI have teamed up to roll out something they call Agentic Payments in India. At its core, this project aims to embed conversational payments right inside ChatGPT, letting users make purchases without leaving the chat.
It is pilot stage for now. The idea is that ChatGPT could suggest products, take your consent, and then initiate payments using India UPI system. NPCI brings its trusted payment backbone, Razorpay provides the fintech plumbing, and OpenAI provides the conversational intelligence. Banking partners in the pilot include Axis Bank and Airtel Payments Bank. BigBasket is one of the first merchants to enable transactions via this new setup.
How will it work in practice? Users may say something like “Buy my usual groceries” in ChatGPT. The AI then finds the right items, shows options, takes permission, and completes payment using UPI. No hopping between apps, no manual entry of PIN or OTP each time. The collaboration uses features such as UPI Circle (letting a designated agent transact) and UPI Reserve Pay (setting spend limits) to keep things safe and controlled.
India already processes over 20 billion UPI transactions monthly. What this collaboration does is bring together conversational AI and a large scale payment system. If this works, it could reshape e-commerce: users need not switch apps, they talk and transact. On the flip side, security, fraud prevention, user consent, and regulatory compliance will be key challenges.
If the pilot succeeds, the partners may scale it across more merchants and domains. It may expand into utilities, subscription payments, or even voice interactions. The test now is whether user trust and regulatory clarity keep pace with technical ambition. What this really means is that India could lead in blending AI and payments. If they pull this off, “talk and buy” could become the next norm.
