Razorpay, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and OpenAI have partnered to pilot Agentic Payments, a new AI-led payments framework that enables users to complete UPI payments directly within AI assistants like ChatGPT, without switching apps or interfaces.
Currently in pilot phase, the initiative aims to build AI-driven commerce at a national scale by integrating NPCI’s UPI network with OpenAI’s conversational AI models and Razorpay’s payments stackIt will enable intelligent, conversational shopping where AI agents can discover products, compare prices and complete transactions through UPI in a seamless flow, the companies said.
Tata’s Bigbasket is the first merchant onboarded to the pilot. This will allow users to shop through ChatGPT using Razorpay-powered UPI payments via banking partners Axis Bank and Airtel Payments Bank.
For example, a user could ask ChatGPT, “Help me order ingredients for a Thai-style curry for four”, and the AI assistant will fetch product options from Bigbasket, add them to the cart, and place the order using UPI with a single confirmation. Users retain full control with real-time transaction tracking and instant revocation options built into the system.
Built On Top Of UPI
The solution is built on top of UPI Circle and UPI Reserve Pay frameworks by NPCI, designed to power autonomous or assisted payments in a secure, consent-led manner. Razorpay said the initiative is designed to maintain strong user control and data security, avoiding risks associated with autonomous AI transactions.
“Agentic Payments marks an important step in India’s digital payments journey, where AI and UPI converge to make transactions more intuitive, intelligent, and inclusive. By enabling user-authorized AI agents to initiate secure payments, we are moving closer to a future where technology anticipates needs and simplifies experiences,” said Sohini Rajola, ED - Growth, NPCI.
“AI is evolving from helping people find products to actually helping them buy them, while also helping sellers reach millions of people. We’re excited to work with NPCI and explore how we can combine advanced AI with UPI, one of the world’s most trusted real-time payment networks, to unlock a new era of effortless and secure commerce,” said Oliver Jay, Managing Director of International Strategy, OpenAI.
What Lies Ahead
The companies said they will explore additional AI-led use cases, including personalised shopping flows, smart checkout, automated recurring payments for businesses and future scenarios where AI agents may be securely authorised to carry out transactions on behalf of users.
The pilot will also look to evaluate scalability across sectors such as e-commerce, travel, financial services and hyperlocal commerce. The rollout timeline beyond pilot stage has not been disclosed.
“With Agentic Payments, we are transforming AI assistants from simple discovery tools into full-fledged shopping agents. For the first time in India, every buyer can have a personal shopping assistant that not only finds the best product at the perfect price but also completes the entire purchase journey seamlessly,” said Harshil Mathur, CEO & Co-founder, Razorpay.
The collaboration marks the first time OpenAI has partnered with an Indian payments player and national payments infrastructure to enable commerce on AI platforms. |
