BNPL Meets UPI in India 🇮🇳 — Paytm Makes the First Move

Hey Payments Fanatic!

Paytm just dropped a big one 👀. Its parent, One 97 Communications, has teamed up with Suryoday Small Finance Bank to launch Paytm Postpaid on UPI — think “buy now, pay later” but for every UPI QR code in India.

Here’s how it works: spend today, pay next month. Users get up to 30 days of interest-free credit, whether it’s for a bill, a recharge, booking tickets, or tapping a UPI QR code at the corner store.

Merchants? They still get instant settlement.

For now, it’s invite-only (based on spending behavior), but the plan is to scale this nationwide.

India’s UPI is already the world’s largest real-time payments system. Now, with credit layered on top, it’s moving a step closer to blending daily payments with everyday lending.

Cheers,

Marcel

INSIGHTS

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GOLDEN NUGGET

🚨 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐈𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 — Cost Optimization by DEUNA 👇 Created by Arthur Bedel 💳 ♻️

In payments, cost efficiency is not just about lowering fees — it’s about orchestrating every transaction path to balance performance, cost, and security.

This use case shows how an 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 transforms raw data into proactive strategies that minimize transaction costs while protecting acceptance and margins.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Agentic intelligence transforms payments into a reasoning system — one that continuously evaluates provider fees, cross-border rules, and acceptance probabilities in real time.

1️⃣ 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬

Every transaction detail — PSP, card scheme, geography, acquirer fees — is funneled into a unified intelligence layer for analysis.

→ Netflix and/or The Walt Disney Company consolidates global PSP and acquirer data to ensure local routing for subscription renewals, minimizing unnecessary cross-border costs.

2️⃣ 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲

ML models process historical performance and fee structures, dynamically recommending the lowest-cost routes without compromising approval rates.

→ Uber applies real-time routing to adjust acquirer selection per ride geography, reducing blended processing costs while keeping checkout frictionless.

3️⃣ 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

The system proactively selects the most cost-effective provider by evaluating:

→ Acquirer fees and interchange rates

→ FX costs and cross-border rules

→ Regional performance and uptime

→ Financing terms

→ Spotify leverages Adyen, Stripe and other providers interchange optimization to cut costs on recurring subscriptions while maintaining strong acceptance levels.

4️⃣ 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Cost savings are protected by embedding antifraud capabilities directly into optimization logic. Transactions are dynamically routed with fraud controls adapted to their risk profile.

→ Stripe merchants balance cost reduction with adaptive fraud checks — applying minimal friction to trusted customers while deploying stronger controls for higher-risk.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞:

✅ Lower processing costs through optimal acquirer and PSP selection

✅ Higher approval rates by avoiding high-cost / low-performance routes

✅ Improved margins as compounded savings scale globally

✅ Secure and seamless customer experiences at checkout

For leading enterprises, the role of AI in payments now has shifted from solving isolated problems to orchestrating an ecosystem where cost control, growth, and trust are engineered by design. It embeds intelligence into every aspect of a business.

Source: DEUNA

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