Global Fintech Fest Roadshow in San Francisco Highlights India’s Leadership in Digital Finance #IndiaFinance

By Ritu Jha-

Organizers of the Global Fintech Fest recently held a roadshow in San Francisco to promote participation in the sixth edition of the fintech event, scheduled to be held Oct. 7–9 in Mumbai, India. The fest aims to foster innovation, collaboration, and transformation in the global financial technology landscape.

The 2025 edition will be held under the theme Finance for a Better World—Powered by AI. GFF aspires to address major global challenges in the financial ecosystem by bringing together some of the most prominent minds in fintech from around the world.

Since its inception in 2020, GFF has evolved into a global platform where fintech leaders, policymakers, and innovators converge to shape the future of finance. Organized by the Payments Council of India (PCI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC), the event continues to set new benchmarks in fintech dialogue and innovation.

Indian Consul General in San Francisco K. Srikar Reddy, who hosted the delegation, praised India’s advancements in digital payments during his opening speech.

“India is now exporting this digital payment infrastructure to other friendly countries, and UPI is accepted in seven countries, like UAE, France, Singapore, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Mauritius,” he said. He added that UPI has helped the Indian diaspora by reducing remittance tax from 6% to 2%, and the system has also brought many informal sectors into the formal economy, boosting tax revenue.

Ritesh Shukla, Member Advisory Council GFF 2025 and CEO of NPCI International Payments Ltd., explained the layered foundation of India’s digital financial infrastructure.

“India Stack has four layers,” he said. “One is presenceless, which is where Aadhaar has a digital ID program … The second layer is the paperless layer … The third is the cashless layer, where NPCI plays an important role. The fourth layer that’s evolving is the consent layer. It’s about account aggregation, and consumers can share their information with third parties and get access to different services.”

Shukla highlighted UPI’s growing dominance in the digital payment space.

“We do about 18 billion transactions a month. Out of this 18 billion, 11 billion are merchant payments and 7 billion are person-to-person (P2P) payments,” he said. “Today, about 50% of the institute payments that happen globally are in India, and it’s only growing.”

He also shared developments such as India’s CBDC pilot program and the widespread use of QR codes. “We have 600 million QR codes in the country, as compared to 9 million POS terminals … We have about 550 million active users every month, which is the second most active network after WhatsApp in the country.”

According to Shukla, the Indian fintech ecosystem was valued at $111 billion by the end of 2024 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 30%, reaching approximately $420 billion by 2029.

Gaurav Chopra, Senior Vice President of the Internet and Mobile Association of India and Executive Director of PCI and FCC, emphasized the festival’s global scale.

“Global Fintech Fest today is the world’s largest fintech festival that is held in Mumbai,” Chopra told indica. “This year we are going to host it between 7 and 9 October. We are here in San Francisco to do a roadshow … Last year, we had the U.S. Federal Reserve governor speaking at the event. This year, we are expecting 100,000 footfalls.”

He said roadshows were also held in Bangkok, New York, Singapore, and Tokyo to attract global interest and connect Indian startups with the world.

“We want to partner with Indian companies … build alliances, and … learn from India and build fintech businesses globally,” Chopra added.

G. Padmanabhan, a GFF Advisory Council member and former Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India, hosted a panel titled “Redefining Finance: Innovation, Intelligence, and the Next Digital Leap.”

“Hosting these fests has helped a lot in the quality and breadth of discussions … India has benefited quite a lot from GFF. There were a number of new investments announced and promises made during the last GFF,” Padmanabhan said.

On regulatory matters, he emphasized, “There must be clear areas of responsibility, and the Reserve Bank has been clear from the outset that some of the core responsibilities cannot be passed on to the fintechs.”

Regarding AI’s impact, he said, “AI is something which has tremendous advantage … But to what extent it is going to transform the banking sector, we’ll have to wait and see … Technology only asks people to realign rather than asking people to go home.”

Srikanth Nadhamuni, the Founding Head of Technology for Aadhaar and Co-Founder and chairman of Khosla Labs, delivered the keynote address at the roadshow. He dismissed concerns that fintech would replace traditional banking.

“I don’t think this is going to take away the banking system … These new technologies will make banking easier and bring more convenience,” he said. “Because of the improved KYC of Aadhaar … we were able to give 80% of India’s population bank accounts. That was financial inclusion.”

He emphasized Aadhaar’s foundational role in digital public infrastructure. “1.38 billion Aadhaar cards have been issued, and 100 million transactions take place daily,” he said.

On cybersecurity, he said, “Cybersecurity is an important area, and AI can help in that … There are many cases where AI can help in cybersecurity.”

Nadhamuni also highlighted the importance of platforms like GFF in addressing key industry challenges. “It’s always a challenge to get all the right people, VCs, and funds for startups. An event like the Global Fintech Fest should help 120,000 participants … solve this problem of people collaborating.”

GFF 2025 is expected to attract global leaders, fintech startups, investors, regulators, and industry professionals from over 75 countries.