NPCI Tech Solutions Ltd has been set up by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) as a wholly owned technology subsidiary. The announcement came on Wednesday, 4 November. The new company will act as NPCI’s technology and innovation arm, with work spanning artificial intelligence, blockchain and digital financial infrastructure. It will also provide global capability centre services and support digital public infrastructure programmes. NPCI operates the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as well as retail payment and settlement systems in India. NPCI Tech Solutions is the fourth wholly owned subsidiary of the organisation.
What NPCI Tech Solutions will do
The mandate of NPCI Tech Solutions covers three broad areas. The first is research and development in artificial intelligence and blockchain, two fields that are now central to how payment systems are built and run. The second is digital financial infrastructure, which includes the systems that move money between banks, merchants and customers. The third is global capability centre services, under which the unit can build and run technology operations for clients. The company will also serve digital public infrastructure programmes, the shared platforms on which public services and payments run.
NPCI Tech Solutions will sit apart from the day to day running of payment networks. That separation matters because NPCI’s existing systems handle very large transaction volumes every day, and any change to them needs careful testing. A separate unit can trial new tools and methods, build prototypes and run pilot projects without touching live settlement systems. It can also hire and organise staff around technology work rather than around network operations. Reports of the announcement described the new company as an innovation arm, a role that points to longer term work rather than daily operations.
Vishal Kanvaty to lead NPCI Tech Solutions
Vishal Kanvaty has been appointed managing director and chief executive of NPCI Tech Solutions. Kanvaty is the chief technology officer of NPCI and has been associated with the organisation for nearly a decade. His appointment puts a person with long experience of NPCI’s systems in charge of the new unit. The move also signals that the subsidiary will stay closely tied to NPCI’s existing technology work, even as it builds its own teams and projects. Kanvaty will lead the company as it sets out its first work programme.
The leadership choice reflects the scale of the task. Building tools for artificial intelligence and blockchain in payments calls for people who know both the technology and the rules that govern money movement. A chief technology officer who has spent close to ten years inside NPCI brings that mix. His team will need to balance speed with safety, since payment systems must work without fail and must guard against fraud. The appointment was reported alongside the announcement of the subsidiary on 4 November.
Why a separate technology arm
NPCI already runs some of the most used payment systems in India. UPI has changed how people pay for goods, send money to each other and settle bills, and the retail payment and settlement systems under NPCI handle a wide range of transactions. A technology subsidiary gives NPCI a place to develop new products and test new ideas. It can also take up work for digital public infrastructure programmes beyond payments, where shared platforms need steady technical support.
The fourth subsidiary tag is also worth noting. NPCI Tech Solutions joins three earlier wholly owned subsidiaries, which shows that NPCI has used separate companies before to handle distinct lines of work. A subsidiary structure lets each unit keep its own accounts, staff and goals while staying under the parent organisation. For a technology unit, that structure can make it easier to sign contracts for capability centre services and to work with outside partners on research projects.
The announcement was reported by Reuters and carried by TokenPost and Duke FM on 4 November. Further detail on the first projects of NPCI Tech Solutions, its staffing plans and its client work is expected as the company begins operations.