New Delhi, June 10 -- As the founder of a global payment solutions company, I have a sense of pride when I speak about India's payment systems to our global customers. India has offered 24/7 settlements for all types of payments for years and many nations are only now catching up with it. Our Unified Payments Interface (UPI) stands as a world-class example. In order to retain this leadership position, India needs to be nimble about a new paradigm that is emerging in the global payments landscape: programmable payments.

These refer to a type of financial transaction where the execution and conditions of the payment are directly embedded in the software code associated with it. This means pre-set rules that dictate when, how and to whom a ...