If UPI Is Free, Who Pays for It? | PhonePe, Razorpay & NPCI | WTF is Payments?
Access the full data and references used in this episode below. Open the Canva Research DocumentPlease open this alongside the episode while watching.We scan a QR code, enter a PIN, and move on. I wanted to understand everything that happens in between. If a payment feels instant and costs us nothing, who is doing the work, who is taking the risk, and who is paying for it?I sat down with Sameer Nigam of PhonePe, Harshil Mathur of Razorpay, and Sohini Rajola of NPCI to follow a payment through the system. We draw out the journey between an app, the banks and NPCI, get into why the confirmation on our phone and the settlement between banks are different things, and compare that with what happens when we use a credit card. From rewards and merchant fees to fraud, failed transactions and the cost of handling cash, there is a business behind every way we choose to pay.The conversation also gets into MDR, how the ecosystem funds itself, and what it takes to keep investing in wider access. Then we look ahead: cross-border payments, business payments, wearable rings, digital tipping, and AI agents that might eventually shop and pay for us. The guests disagree on how quickly that future arrives, especially in India.If you were starting a payments business today, which problem would you try to solve? Watch the full conversation and tell me below.TIMESTAMPS00:00 Introduction02:23 Sohini Rajola: Her journey and NPCI's role09:40 Banks, fintechs and digital banking14:11 Harshil Mathur: The problem that led to Razorpay20:36 Sameer Nigam: His journey before PhonePe24:08 Why young Indians want to leave30:28 UPI's early builders and the cost of overregulation43:16 Flipkart's payment failures and the birth of PhonePe52:02 How a UPI payment actually works59:06 If UPI is free, who pays for it?1:05:26 Instant payments vs bank settlement1:08:24 Stablecoins, CBDCs and the future of money1:14:52 Wealth inequality, inheritance and capital gains1:17:11 The zero-MDR debate: Funding the payments ecosystem1:21:31 Should UPI apps have market-share caps?1:33:08 Can new banks and startups compete in India?1:41:18 How card and merchant payments work1:49:39 Credit-card rewards and RuPay on UPI1:54:12 How Razorpay improved online payments2:02:08 The B2B payments opportunity2:05:36 Building payments for medical tourism2:09:54 Why digital tipping is still unsolved2:16:01 What payment data reveals about India's consumers2:21:22 Trust and India's next wave of online shoppers2:26:07 GST, consumption and property taxes2:31:38 Affordable food, quality and accountability2:37:55 Cash vs digital: Measuring India's spending2:42:20 B2B payments, merchant data and access to credit2:44:31 Stablecoins, cross-border transfers and capital controls2:51:59 Will AI agents change how we shop and pay?2:57:57 Is AI in a bubble?3:03:01 AI costs, productivity and human work3:08:59 What should young founders build for AI commerce?3:16:01 Who benefits from AI? Business and investment opportunities3:24:31 Meet the builders: Seven, Dodo Payments and PayGlocal3:26:46 How cross-border payments and merchant-of-record models work3:34:55 Stablecoins and CBDCs: Speed, trust and regulation3:39:20 The founders' view on competition and market share3:41:31 Seven's payment rings: Cashback, revenue and adoption3:47:20 Medical tourism and other cross-border opportunities3:51:07 Tap-to-pay, tipping and the future of wearables3:53:48 Cheaper AI and the pace of agentic commerce3:56:47 Fraud, trust and safeguards for AI payments3:59:18 Final advice for young fintech foundersGUESTSSohini Rajola – Executive Director, Growth at the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sohinirajola/Sameer Nigam – Founder and CEO of PhonePeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanigam/Harshil Mathur – Co-founder and CEO of RazorpayLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harshilmathur/ALSO FEATURING PERSPECTIVES FROMVijay Khubchandani – Founder & CEO, SevenLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijaykhubchandani/Prachi Dharani – Co-Founder & CEO, PayGlocalLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prachi-dharani-94530a9/Yogesh Lokhande – Co-Founder, PayGlocalLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yogesh-lokhande-b760522/Ayush Agarwal – Co-Founder & CPTO, Dodo PaymentsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aagarwal1012/HOSTNikhil Kamath – Co-founder of Zerodha and Gruhas; Host of 'WTF Is' & 'People By WTF' Podcast.Twitter: https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcio/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcio?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_appFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/LISTEN TO THE PODCASTWatch 'WTF Online' on Spotify:https://tinyurl.com/4tjua4th#WTFiswithNikhilKamath #PeopleByWTF #WTFOnline