India has launched a pilot allowing users to shop and pay via ChatGPT using UPI, bridging conversational AI with digital payments. This move reconnects India’s UPI system back into the fabric of credit cards and wallets — redefining how users interact with finance through AI agents.
The News Body & Key Highlights
• AI-driven payments pilot begins: OpenAI, NPCI, and Razorpay have rolled out a pilot for “agentic payments,” enabling ChatGPT to complete transactions via UPI in collaboration with Axis Bank and Airtel Payments Bank. 
• Seamless shopping within ChatGPT: Users can discover and purchase products (e.g. from BigBasket) directly inside the ChatGPT interface without leaving the chat window. 
• User control & security built-in: Transactions require explicit user confirmation. AI agents operate under restricted permissions to prevent misuse. 
• Credit cards & wallets resurfaced via UPI: Although credit card–UPI linking has existed (especially via RuPay), this innovation ties traditional wallets/cards into conversational AI, effectively bringing them back into UPI’s orbit in a modern context. 
• New subscription + payment flexibility: OpenAI’s ChatGPT Go subscription in India supports UPI payments, reducing reliance on credit cards and improving accessibility. 
• Implication for fintech and commerce: This could reshape how users transact online — shifting from app-hopping to conversational commerce where AI becomes the interface to banking, wallets, and shopping.
As ChatGPT turns into a shopping and payment assistant, India’s UPI transforms yet again — not just a payments layer but a conversational bridge across cards, wallets, and commerce.
Sources: Reuters