Visa Introduces Payment Passkey in India to Replace OTPs
Global payments major Visa launched its Payment Passkey solution in India on Thursday, aiming to move digital payment authentication beyond traditional passwords and one-time passwords (OTPs). The solution allows consumers to authenticate online card payments using biometric features already built into their mobile devices, such as fingerprint, facial recognition, device PIN, or pattern.
Speaking at a company event, Suresh Sethi, Group Country Manager for India and South Asia at Visa, emphasised the need for stronger authentication methods as artificial intelligence-driven commerce accelerates. “Authentication cannot remain dependent on passwords or one-time codes designed for an earlier digital era. It must become secured by design, invisible to the consumer, and resilient against increasingly sophisticated fraud,” Sethi said.
How Visa Payment Passkey Works
Visa Payment Passkey (VPP) enables consumers to satisfy India’s two-factor authentication requirement without relying solely on OTPs. Instead, users authenticate transactions using secure capabilities already present on their mobile phones. Sethi explained that the solution is built on globally accepted FIDO standards, making digital payments more trusted, secure, and seamless. “It enables consumers to authenticate transactions by doing something very intuitive… whether through the fingerprint, facial recognition, device PIN or pattern. This strengthens protection against risks emanating from OTP phishing while improving the overall user experience,” he said.
India’s Digital Payments Enter a Trust-Focused Phase
Sethi noted that India’s digital payments ecosystem is entering a third phase centred on trust. “As we speak, we are entering the third phase. This is a phase centred on trust,” he said, adding that as digital payments become mainstream, the priority is to strengthen the trust layer so that transactions remain secure, resilient, and accessible.
Highlighting India’s progress, Sethi revealed that the country is now the world’s most tokenised market for online card payments. “Today, India is the world’s most tokenised market for online card payments with more than 900 million payment tokens and almost 500 million Visa tokens as part of that,” he stated, attributing the achievement to the Reserve Bank of India’s regulatory framework on tokenisation and digital payment security.
RBI Framework Enables Alternative Authentication
According to Visa, the RBI’s framework has opened the door for alternative mechanisms for an additional factor of authentication beyond OTPs. This creates an opportunity to offer a faster and more secure payment experience. The company believes that moving beyond OTPs is crucial as fraud techniques become more advanced, particularly with the rise of AI.
AI Transforming Commerce and Payment Security
Sethi highlighted that AI is rapidly transforming how consumers discover, compare, and purchase products. “Intelligent assistants will increasingly participate in commerce, and connected devices will become active participants in transactions,” he said. This shift requires authentication methods that are invisible and resilient, which Visa Payment Passkey aims to provide.
He also expressed optimism about India’s potential to become “the world’s most trusted digital economy”. Achieving this, he noted, would require continued collaboration among regulators, banks, fintech firms, merchants, and technology providers.
