As one of the leading payment platforms in India, Cashfree Payments faces the crucial task of addressing scalability without jeopardizing trust and agility. Handling more than $80 billion in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) annually and processing up to 4,000 transactions per second, Cashfree leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to navigate compliance-heavy, multilingual ecosystems operating 24/7 at large scales.
“Our vision is to democratize and expand access to digital payments for businesses of all sizes across the country while fortifying trust within a compliance-driven ecosystem,” stated Ramkumar Venkatesan, CTO of Cashfree Payments. The company employs AI across various areas, from fraud detection to cross-border payments, enhancing operational efficiencies and redefining business models.
AI-powered cross-border transactions and Video KYC are two prominent applications where AI not only refines processes but also transforms operational frameworks. Cashfree is utilizing AI to enhance efficiency in the compliance-heavy domain of cross-border payments. Automated transaction verification by AI agents has reduced the turnaround time for global remittances by 70%, allowing merchants to receive settlements much more quickly.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandates strict checks requiring verification for each transaction in cross-border payments, making verification the most labor-intensive aspect of the process. Cashfree has restructured this workflow with AI agents that now handle the majority of transaction verifications, limiting manual intervention to a few exceptional cases.
According to Mayank Juneja, Architect at Cashfree Payments, “The value here is both operational and strategic. We have achieved operational efficiencies while significantly enhancing the merchant experience. Faster settlements mean improved liquidity for merchants, and reduced compliance costs lead to lower transactional overheads.” The use of AI agents facilitates seamless scaling without necessitating a proportional increase in resources, an essential capability for international payment companies.
Cashfree is increasingly embedding AI into its merchant interactions. AI-powered customer support agents now resolve over 60% of service tickets instantly. Specialized AI tools provide merchants with actionable insights, assisting them in improving transaction success rates or addressing integration issues before they become problematic.
In addressing financial inclusion barriers in India, Cashfree has integrated AI into its Video KYC process, which detects deepfakes and attempts at AI-driven fraud during verification. This newly launched product supports over 20 regional Indian languages and operates on low-end devices and with limited internet access, extending its reach to remote areas.
“This is not just a feature upgrade, but a structural shift that democratizes access to digital payments. By making compliance multilingual and infrastructure-light, we aim to lower friction for millions of potential merchants in Tier 2 and Tier 3 regions,” Venkatesan added.
As digital payment adoption rises, so do fraud attempts, leading Cashfree to employ AI extensively in fraud detection and risk management, thereby safeguarding both merchants and consumers. The AI models utilize a vast dataset of billions of daily transactions to identify anomalous patterns based on user behavior, location, and temporal data to thwart fraudulent activities. “We have achieved around 70% precision in detecting and blocking fraudulent transactions, aiming to minimize disruption to legitimate transactions while flagging those that require merchant review,” Juneja explained.
Identity verification remains critical in the payment industry, where validating the identity of transacting individuals and ensuring legitimate merchant onboarding are paramount. Cashfree’s AI-powered identity verification suite, Shield, effectively mitigates misuse across transactions, including cross-border payments, which introduce added complexity. “Securing cross-border flows is not just about compliance, but also a national responsibility to prevent money laundering,” Venkatesan remarked.
With the emerging trend toward agentic AI, Cashfree is preparing for the upcoming evolution in commerce, where not only humans but AI agents will facilitate transactions. This shift is already observable with AI-driven platforms that handle shopping and services on behalf of users, necessitating that payments also adapt to this new landscape.
“Our focus is to stay ahead of this trend, empowering merchants to facilitate agent-driven payments while ensuring frictionless experiences for both businesses and consumers,” stated Venkatesan.
With AI embedded at every level, from product innovation to fraud prevention and customer experience, Cashfree is carving out the future payments infrastructure.
Note: This journey of AI adoption exemplifies the objectives behind the Making AI Work Summit & Awards, which seeks to foster collaboration and innovation within the AI community, while the ET AI Awards India honors key contributors to the field.
