India’s fintech companies empowering merchants and MSMEs: Finance Minister

FM Nirmala Sitharaman visited the office of Pine Labs, a digital fintech company, in Noida and interacted with its employees and staff members

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said India’s fintech companies are helping the country’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) expand further and empower merchants and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

FM Sitharaman visited the office of Pine Labs, a digital fintech company, in Noida and interacted with its employees and staff members.

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She acknowledged “India’s fintech firms’ contribution to expanding country’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and in enabling seamless, secure and inclusive financial services for merchants and MSMEs”, Nirmala Sitharaman Office said in a post on X social media platform.

B Amrish Rau, CEO, Pine Labs, said in an X post, it was “an exciting and unbelievable day… It was a full house and our FM was completely immersed in her interactions and Tech discussions”.

Pine Labs is a merchant commerce omnichannel platform operating across India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Pine Labs focuses on simplifying digital payments and helping businesses scale fintech solutions.

Meanwhile, UPI QR codes have recorded the fastest growth in digital payments infrastructure in the financial year 2024-25, with a 91.5 per cent jump over the previous financial year to 657.9 million.

The number of banks going live on UPI continues to increase, and the total touched 668 in April, which is expected to increase the value of such transactions, according to the RBI data.

UPI has become the dominant method for digital transactions in India. Nearly four out of five digital payments in the country were conducted on the UPI in the financial year 2024 (FY24), according to the Reserve Bank of India’s annual report.

RBI also allows flexibility in revising transaction limits for UPI in-person merchant payments, allowing NPCI to adjust limits based on user needs, with safeguards in place which has made the mode of payment more convenient.

Also, India’s digital payments ecosystem witnessed a significant surge in the second half of 2024, driven by Unified Payments Interface (UPI), mobile payments and cards, according to Worldline India’s Digital Payments Report.