The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is accelerating its expansion efforts with plans to establish a state-of-the-art research and development (R&D) centre in Mumbai. This upcoming facility, designed to accommodate up to 5,000 employees, will serve as a hub for digital payments and financial technology innovation.
NPCI CEO Dilip Asbe, speaking at Mumbai Tech Week, highlighted the growing role of AI in financial services and the need for a larger workforce. He stated, “We are building a 5,000-people-capacity R&D and experience centre. Around 70 countries have visited the NPCI office in the last 4-5 years.” A plot in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) has already been earmarked for NPCI’s new global headquarters, which will house research, administrative, and technical teams under one roof.
Through its subsidiary NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), NPCI is actively working to expand UPI adoption across global markets. Currently, UPI is operational in Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the UAE, enabling seamless cross-border transactions. NPCI also partnered with the Ministry of Digital Transformation in Trinidad and Tobago in 2023 to develop a real-time payments system modelled after UPI.
Additionally, NPCI is collaborating with financial regulators in the UAE and Mauritius to establish domestic card networks similar to RuPay, enhancing local transaction security and efficiency. Talks are also ongoing with authorities in Peru and Namibia to explore further fintech collaborations.
The new R&D centre will play a crucial role in advancing fintech solutions, focusing on AI-driven fraud detection, transaction security, and digital payment innovations. Currently, NPCI operates from multiple locations in Mumbai, including BKC, Jogeshwari, and Goregaon. The upcoming headquarters will streamline operations by bringing teams together in one centralized space.
This expansion comes as UPI transactions hit record highs, surpassing 16.99 billion transactions last month, with a total transaction value of ₹23.48 lakh crore, according to the Union Finance Ministry. With 80+ UPI-enabled applications and 641 banks live on the UPI network, digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly.
Additionally, credit transactions via UPI are growing significantly, with 8% of all credit card payments now processed through UPI. The RuPay card network, managed by NPCI, accounts for 16% of total credit card spending, with half of these transactions being routed via UPI.
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With its new R&D hub and global fintech initiatives, NPCI is poised further to solidify India’s leadership in the digital payments ecosystem, ensuring faster, more secure, and AI-driven financial transactions worldwide.
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