Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs, has hailed India’s Digital Payment Infrastructure (DPI) as a “gift” for entrepreneurs, while also warning of potential regulatory challenges.
Rau praised the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and other government initiatives for creating a robust digital payments ecosystem, but expressed concerns about whether this support will be sufficient as the sector grows.
“We’ve been very lucky with an NPCI-led body and the initiatives of Mr. Nilekani and his organizations. Today, the ecosystem is developing almost as fast as the ambitions of young India,” Rau said.
However, he cautioned, “Can that continue for the next five or 15 years? This is an area of concern. Much more will need to be done by public sector organizations and regulators to keep up with these ambitions.”
Rau highlighted the unique opportunity Indian entrepreneurs have in comparison to their global counterparts.
"Nowhere else in the world does a non-profit body or government institution create the highways for businesses to operate on top of. In most places, founders have to build the highway themselves before they can even start running their businesses," he explained.
"In India, we've been given a gift where the highways for digital payments are already being created. It's up to us, as founders, to build and scale our businesses."
He pointed to the success of companies like PhonePe as a prime example of this opportunity. "PhonePe has achieved astounding results by focusing solely on DPI. They’ve built their business around it and scaled significantly," Rau remarked.
Pine Labs, according to Rau, aims to follow a similar strategy. The company plans to build value-added services on top of the existing digital infrastructure, leveraging the DPI to drive growth.
Looking ahead, Rau predicted that a "new class of banks and financial institutions" would emerge in India, driven by digital-first approaches.
However, he stressed that the regulatory environment must continue to evolve to support this growth. “The ambition in India today is growing rapidly, and it’s putting pressure on the entire ecosystem,” he said.
“My concern is whether the enabling ecosystem can keep up with the pace of change that our ambitions demand.”
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