GFF 2026 puts agentic AI, tokenization and quantum security at the center of fintech

Global Fintech Fest 2026 in Mumbai drew more than 100,000 attendees and spotlighted agentic AI, tokenization and quantum-safe security as the next big priorities for financial services. GeekyAnts participated as a Bronze Partner as regulators, payments leaders and banks outlined tighter controls for autonomous AI systems.

Why it matters: - GFF 2026 showed that fintech is moving from AI experimentation to operational deployment, especially in payments, lending and fraud prevention. - The event also made clear that autonomous AI in finance will need stronger controls around identity, authorization, audit trails and settlement. - India's digital payments scale keeps raising the stakes. UPI processed 24.51 billion transactions worth Rs 29.82 lakh crore in August 2026.

What happened: - Global Fintech Fest 2026 ran from September 8 to 11 at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai. - More than 100,000 attendees from over 80 countries gathered for the seventh edition. - Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the event. - GeekyAnts participated as a Bronze Partner and exhibitor. - GeekyAnts was also present at Booth JE16, where discussions centered on AI-powered financial workflows, payments, digital banking, system modernization and production-ready engineering.

The details: - Modi outlined four priorities for the sector: expanding UPI globally, extending fintech access to pensions and insurance, introducing a Fintech Consumer Protection Index, and preparing for agentic AI, tokenization and quantum computing. - NPCI launched AiNxt, an open-source platform for building and deploying AI agents using a bring-your-own-model approach. - NPCI also launched AtOM, an orchestration platform for signed, machine-readable audit trails across UPI integrations and partner onboarding. - RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra launched MyUPI, powered by NPCI's payments-focused small language model, FiMI. - MyUPI gives users a consolidated view of UPI transactions and AutoPay mandates. - Amazon Pay introduced a Smart wallet that lets AI agents make UPI payments on behalf of users, initially for flight bookings. - Pine Labs and L&T Finance added an agentic commerce feature to the PLANET app. - BharatPe launched an AI assistant connected to more than 60 internal systems to support merchants. - Yes Bank and Open launched i-Mandate, which flags recurring payments at risk of failure and offers alternatives through voice and WhatsApp agents in 22 languages. - Mahindra Finance expanded its collaboration with Sarvam to use voice agents in 12 Indian languages for payment reminders, collections and loan cross-selling. - PayU launched Fraud Liability Protect, a machine learning product for merchants accepting international card payments. - PayU said merchants using the technology have seen a 4% to 5% improvement in international card payment success rates. - The Monetary Authority of Singapore presented SAFR, or Safeguards for Agentic Finance at Runtime. - The voluntary framework focuses on agent identity, authority, pre-execution controls and audit records. - An RBI Deputy Governor called on banks, payment operators, fintechs and technology providers to prepare for quantum-safe financial infrastructure. - CERT-In has separately proposed human-in-the-loop controls for transactions above defined financial thresholds.

Between the lines: - Regulators are signaling support for AI in finance, but only inside a framework that keeps humans responsible for the final decision. - NPCI non-executive chairman Ajay Kumar Choudhary said AI agents may determine user intent but should not independently authorize payments. - Choudhary described an architecture that separates intent, authorization and settlement while preserving interoperability, auditability and settlement finality. - SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey drew a similar line in markets, saying an AI-generated alert should not automatically be treated as a regulatory finding. - Across the event, identity, authorization, governance and auditability emerged as the core requirements for safe deployment of agentic AI in financial services. - The agenda suggests the next phase of fintech competition will hinge as much on controls and compliance as on user-facing AI features.

What's next: - Fintech companies and banks are likely to push more agentic AI into customer service, payments, collections and risk monitoring. - India’s payments ecosystem will keep testing how far UPI can expand globally while maintaining security and trust. - Quantum-safe planning is now moving into mainstream infrastructure discussions for banks, payment networks and fintech platforms. - The themes from GFF 2026 point to more product launches built around autonomy, but with tighter guardrails, auditability and human oversight. - The conversations at GFF 2026 followed similar themes from GFF 2025, including virtual cards, KYC optimization, dispute escalation and AI integration with legacy systems.