Payments
UPI MDR of 0.4% on big tickets starts 15 October
Merchants face fresh cost on payments above ₹2,000, raising the risk of cash shift at kirana and organised tills alike.
Kabir Menon · 19 Sep · 4 min read
The rail
Payments
UPI, Razorpay, PhonePe, Paytm, NPCI and merchant acquiring — the rails under Indian retail. News and opinion, daily.
Payments
Govt locks 0.4% UPI MDR above ₹2,000 from 15 October
Merchants pay the charge, consumers stay free; small retailers and petrol pumps scramble for exemptions before the festive rush.
Kabir Menon · 17 Sep · 4 min read
Opinion · Payments
The free-UPI era was always borrowed time
Charging merchants was inevitable once volumes turned the rails into critical national infrastructure.
The Desk · 22 Aug · 4 min read
Payments
Parliament opens door to UPI merchant fees
Lawmakers clear the way for charges on shop payments, ending the long free ride that powered India’s digital commerce boom.
Kabir Menon · 22 Aug · 4 min read
Payments
WhatsApp Pay more than doubles UPI volumes, enters top-eight apps
July tally hits 167.89 million transactions worth Rs 12,957 crore after NPCI onboarding curbs were lifted.
Kabir Menon · 21 Aug · 4 min read
Payments
Razorpay trained a payments model. The interesting part is who it already sits inside.
Vulcan is being sold as India's first foundation model for payments. The real story is routing, fraud, and an 8–10% lift in success rates at merchants that cannot afford a failed UPI ping.
Kabir Menon · 19 Aug · 8 min read
Payments
PhonePe is a payments company that wants to be a switch. Those are different jobs.
UPI made a giant. The next decade is whether that giant is a surface, a lender, or the rails themselves.
Kabir Menon · 12 Aug · 7 min read
Opinion · Payments
The next UPI war is credit. It will not look like credit.
The ping will feel the same. The balance sheet will not. Every app with a QR is auditioning to be a lender.
Kabir Menon · 8 Aug · 6 min read