India's digital payments revolution needs credit inclusion & AI-led trust: Sandeep Ghosh

Trust is at the core of digitization and payments, and for companies, a key imperative is to build that trust by strengthening the security of the payments ecosystem, said Sandeep Ghosh, Visa’s Group Country Manager of India and South Asia.

Speaking at e4m’s TechManch 2025, Ghosh delivered a powerful keynote on the transformation of India’s digital payments landscape. The session kicked off with Ghosh exploring the country's digital evolution, the role of AI in it all, and definite strategies for brands to thrive in a digital-first world through customer-centric innovation and agility.

Underscoring the centrality of trust in digital payments, Ghosh noted, “At the heart of digitization and payments is trust. One of the key imperatives companies like us focus on is building trust and making the payments ecosystem more secure.” He also shared that Visa has invested over $11 billion in cybersecurity and fraud prevention over the past six years, working with regulators, law enforcement, fintechs, and banks to ensure a safer digital environment for the users.

He also mentioned Visa signing an MoU with Gujarat’s Rashtriya Raksha University to advance cyber education across students, professionals, and law enforcement agencies, aiding the co-creation of modern curriculums and tools to combat cyber threats. The university is recognized as an Institution of National Importance under the Home Affairs Ministry.

Ghosh highlighted the pivotal role that Visa's Global Technology Center in Bangalore plays in advancing innovation in the country. “We have over 5,500 employees building technology for India as well as for the world. Some of our most cutting-edge products and applications in cyber security and money movement are being created in our Bangalore Tech Center, which also happens to be the largest employee base that we have in a single location.”

Ghosh shared data regarding under-penetration of credit in India, noting that while India has over a billion debit cards, only one in ten are monthly active. On the credit side, India has 110 million credit cards, but only 50 million unique users, compared to a billion in China. “There is a huge opportunity to expand the penetration of credit cards. We reckon 100 to 150 million people in this country are credit-worthy but don’t have a credit card.”

On cross-border payments, he pointed out lingering inefficiencies and the public's over-reliance on cash while traveling. “In many countries, self-checkout is primarily cashless. Yet Indians still carry cash when going abroad. Everybody at the back of their mind feels that, ‘hey, if I'm traveling abroad, I need to have some cash in my wallet just in case of an emergency’”

Looking ahead, Ghosh emphasized the transformative potential of AI and agentic shopping. “The real future or the real delta that we see, incremental to what is happening in shopping, is in commerce. Agents or agentic AI will change the way we shop, compare, and decide. Payment experiences must be embedded so seamlessly that they don’t feel like a separate step.”

He concluded his keynote address with a powerful reminder that “It’s not enough to have democratization of payments that leads to the overall democratization of responsible credit. Of the 500 million users of digital payments, only 50 to 70 million have access to formal credit. That is a huge gap.”

“India stands at the forefront of a digital payment revolution. Some of it is obvious, while some of it is not. It’s really for us to adapt, adopt, and play it forward. The next frontier is to make digital payments more universal, inter-operable, secure, and inclusive, powered by innovation, AI, and meaningful partnerships, to finally drive financial empowerment and future-ready commerce. We have some distance to cover.” he reaffirmed.