As India heads into the Union Budget 2026–27, leaders across the digital payments and fintech ecosystem are looking for policy signals that can support the sector’s next phase of growth, deepen financial inclusion and bring greater regulatory clarity as transaction volumes and use cases expand rapidly.
Matías Gainza Eurnekian, CEO, Federal Card Services, said India’s payments ecosystem is entering a new expansion cycle, driven by rising incomes, higher consumption and accelerating digital adoption. Drawing on global industry insights, he noted that growing disposable incomes tend to translate directly into higher card usage and digital payments, particularly when supported by strong acceptance infrastructure and innovative offerings.
Against this backdrop, he said the upcoming Budget presents an opportunity to strengthen the foundations of the payments value chain. Targeted incentives for advanced manufacturing and a renewed push for local production could help make India’s payments ecosystem more resilient and globally competitive. Extending and modernising schemes such as the Production Linked Incentive programme, especially for next-generation technologies, would further reinforce this momentum. Equally important, he added, is policy clarity that balances growth with fiscal discipline, as macroeconomic confidence plays a key role in driving adoption of new payment technologies.
Focus On Business Correspondents And Rural Fintechs For Inclusion
From a financial inclusion perspective, Dilip Modi, Founder and CEO, Spice Money, stressed the importance of sustained support for the non-bank Business Correspondent (BC) ecosystem and rural fintechs. He said BCs remain the backbone of assisted digital finance in Bharat, delivering essential services such as Aadhaar-enabled payments, cash withdrawals, deposits and basic banking access in regions where bank branches are scarce.
Modi said the Budget should focus on strengthening this network through better infrastructure support, digital enablement and sustainable incentive structures. He also highlighted the role rural fintechs have played in building trust among first-time users and called for greater investment in rural connectivity, along with wider adoption of vernacular and voice-based interfaces. As Fintech participation in core banking and payment services grows, he emphasised the need for clearer regulatory guidelines around transparency, standardised reporting and consumer protection to maintain confidence across the ecosystem.
Cross-border Payments And Education Remittances In Spotlight
Attention is also turning to India’s rapidly expanding cross-border and forex payments segment. Srikrishna Narasimhan, Whole-time Director and CEO, GlobalPay, said strong growth is being driven by overseas education, global expansion by Indian businesses and rising outbound leisure travel.
He pointed out that while education remittances funded through loans are already exempt from tax collected at source (TCS), extending similar relief to payments made from students’ own funds would recognise education as a non-discretionary expense. Narasimhan also flagged concerns around the growing use of closed or semi-closed education payment platforms tied to specific universities, arguing that open access and fee neutrality are essential to protect consumers from opaque pricing and limited choice.
Looking ahead, he said clearer safeguards are needed to align payment instruments with their stated purpose. Mandatory documentation for education- or travel-linked forex products, along with explicit purpose tagging mapped to Fema categories, could improve reporting integrity, reduce misclassification and better serve genuine student and traveller needs. As outbound travel rises, he added, consistent policies and investment in interoperable cross-border infrastructure will be critical to delivering transparent and affordable forex solutions.
Taken together, industry voices suggest that Budget 2026–27 could play a pivotal role in shaping India’s digital payments trajectory — by reinforcing domestic manufacturing, empowering rural Fintechs, and bringing sharper regulatory clarity to an increasingly complex and globalised payments landscape. |
