India’s digital payments strategy is cutting out Visa and Mastercard

As digital payments morph into strategic assets, India is offering a template for other nations seeking to reduce dependence on Western payment networks.

Regulators around the world are notching up scrutiny on Visa and Mastercard over the fees they charge merchants, but India has chosen a different path: Creating rival payment networks that are increasingly sidelining international card networks.

India’s strategy builds on the Unified Payments Interface, known as UPI, a nine-year-old system that lets consumers and merchants bypass traditional card networks by connecting bank accounts directly through QR codes and phone numbers.