Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra has announced his switch to the BHIM digital payments application, a decision prompted by an illuminating discussion with Dilip Asbe, Managing Director and CEO of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
Mahindra recounted being asked by a friend why he wasn't using BHIM, India's own digital payments app. This led to an introduction to Asbe, whose insights profoundly changed Mahindra's perspective on the country's digital payment ecosystem.
Understanding India's Digital Payments Infrastructure
The industrialist highlighted a crucial distinction between the various consumer-facing payment applications and the underlying infrastructure that facilitates these transactions. Mahindra quoted Asbe's analogy, stating, "We all know the payment apps we use every day. PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, BHIM… But think of them as trains running on a railway network. NPCI provides the tracks. And what an extraordinary railway India has built!"
BHIM, short for Bharat Interface for Money, is a digital payments application developed by NPCI and launched in December 2016. It enables direct bank-to-bank transfers via the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), distinguishing itself as NPCI's direct consumer offering, unlike other popular third-party apps.
The Scale of UPI's Success
Mahindra underscored the immense scale of India's digital payment infrastructure, noting that UPI alone processed over 2,400 crore (24 billion) transactions in September, equating to more than 80 crore (800 million) transactions daily. This volume solidifies India's position as the world's largest real-time payments market, a true "global force multiplier," according to Mahindra.
He praised Dilip Asbe as a key architect behind this remarkable achievement, emphasizing Asbe's humility despite his significant contributions to the financial technology landscape. Mahindra noted, "But here's what struck me most about him. Not the scale of his achievement. Not his knowledge of the technology. His humility."
Future of Digital Finance in India
The conversation also touched upon NPCI's forward-looking plans to expand the digital financial infrastructure. Asbe is actively developing new "railroads" to enable further applications in broader financial sectors, extending the successful model established by UPI.
Mahindra expressed his gratitude to Asbe for the enlightening discussion, which not only led to his personal adoption of the BHIM app but also reinforced his belief that ambition and humility can indeed converge on the path to success.