Unified Payments Interface (UPI) Compliance Enhancements
A2A Workflows Introduction
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is exploring agent-to-agent (A2A) workflows to expedite compliance cycles within the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system.
- AI agents are envisioned to interact with similar agents at leading banks to accelerate compliance.
- Current certification process by banks takes 4 to 8 weeks; automation could reduce this to 1 week or 10 days.
Current Status and Future Prospects
The development is in early stages, with collaboration expected with banks and tech providers.
- Tangible benefits from A2A workflows are anticipated in more than a year.
Purpose of A2A Workflows
The aim is to ensure seamless communication and accurate operation between banks and NPCI.
- OC directives are aimed at maintaining uniformity in the payments system across banks and TPAPs (Third-Party Application Providers).
- More than 30 UPI-related OCs were issued in 2025–26.
- A2A workflows could reduce technical and compliance burdens.
Building the Agentic System
Banks must build their own AI agents to interact over secure protocols.
- Human oversight will remain for final authorizations, testing, and certification.
- Interactions are expected to transition to agentic flows for efficiency.
A2A Protocols
Google’s A2A is an open protocol enabling collaboration between agents.
- Capable of providing real-time feedback and updates.
- NPCI may explore such open protocols or develop custom ones.
Previous AI Initiatives
NPCI has rolled out FiMI, a domain-specific language model for the Indian payments ecosystem, to understand UPI complexities and manage payment functions.
