Amazon Pay introduced Smart wallet on Wednesday, enabling AI agents to make UPI payments on behalf of users. The launch includes biometric authentication to improve payment success rates and an offline tap-to-pay feature for transactions without internet connectivity. Currently, agentic UPI payments are live for flight ticket bookings, with plans to expand to more merchants and use cases, according to medianama.com.
The Smart wallet was unveiled at the Global Fintech Fest, where Girish Krishnan, director of payments, rewards and merchant services at Amazon Pay India, explained the collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and online travel aggregator ixigo. Krishnan highlighted that while AI agents can compare prices and recommend purchases, they have been unable to complete transactions due to the lack of an authorization mechanism for non-human actors in the payment ecosystem.
This development addresses a key gap in the Indian digital payments landscape by enabling autonomous AI agents to finalize purchases, starting with flight bookings. The integration of biometric authentication and offline payment options aims to enhance user convenience and transaction reliability. The partnership with NPCI and ixigo positions Amazon Pay to extend this capability across various sectors, reflecting broader trends in AI-driven fintech innovation in India.
Amazon Pay’s Smart wallet represents a step forward in agentic payments, with the initial rollout focused on flight ticket booking. The company plans to progressively expand the service to additional merchants and use cases, as confirmed by Girish Krishnan at the Global Fintech Fest.