In a decisive move to fortify India’s rapidly growing digital payments ecosystem, the State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda (BoB) are set to lead the creation of a new, technology-driven intelligence entity the Indian Digital Payments Intelligence Corporation (IDPIC). Conceived under the guidance of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the initiative marks a landmark institutional response to the surge in payment-related frauds, money mule networks and cyber-enabled financial crimes that have increasingly threatened the integrity of India’s fintech-led economy.
A National Digital Intelligence Backbone
The IDPIC will be established as a Section 8 company, a not-for-profit entity with a clear mandate: to collect, analyse and share actionable intelligence on payment fraud patterns across banks, fintechs and telecom networks. With an authorised capital of ₹500 crore and an initial paid-up capital of ₹200 crore, the company will act as a nerve centre for fraud detection and prevention, leveraging advanced analytics, AI-driven monitoring systems and inter-agency data collaboration.
According to initial reports, all 12 public sector banks (PSBs) will hold equity stakes in the venture, with SBI and BoB leading its operational and strategic direction. Senior executives from both banks will join as directors on the company’s board, ensuring that the initiative aligns seamlessly with the broader objectives of the Indian banking system and the RBI’s supervisory framework.
Rising Threats in Digital Finance
India’s digital economy has grown exponentially, with UPI transactions surpassing ₹20 lakh crore monthly and digital payment volumes recording double-digit growth year after year. However, this rapid expansion has also attracted sophisticated fraud networks exploiting loopholes across telecoms, APIs, payment gateways and banking systems. Fraud typologies have evolved from phishing and fake KYC to mule accounts and coordinated social engineering attacks.
The RBI has repeatedly flagged the growing risks of digital identity misuse and synthetic fraud. Traditional bank-level anti-fraud measures are no longer sufficient against the scale and complexity of emerging threats. IDPIC aims to bridge this gap by functioning as a centralised data intelligence hub, integrating fraud reports, suspicious transaction trails, telecom metadata and behavioural analytics into a unified prevention framework.
How IDPIC Will Function
The proposed corporation will establish a real-time information exchange framework among banks, payment aggregators, fintechs and law enforcement agencies. By aggregating signals such as abnormal transaction patterns, IP anomalies, device identifiers and telecom linkages, the system can detect coordinated fraud in its early stages.
In addition, IDPIC will work closely with RBI’s Department of Payment and Settlement Systems (DPSS) and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to ensure cross-sector data integration. The platform may also collaborate with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and telecom regulators to flag mule accounts and prevent fraudulent account openings.
The system’s design reportedly draws inspiration from successful models in global financial hubs, such as the UK’s CIFAS (Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System) and the US’s FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network), adapting them for India’s unique scale and digital diversity.
The Institutional Significance
Beyond its immediate function as a fraud prevention tool, IDPIC represents a structural leap in India’s financial infrastructure. It institutionalises cooperation between the public and private sectors, ensuring that fraud intelligence is not siloed within individual entities but shared across the ecosystem in a responsible and privacy-compliant manner.
This initiative also complements India’s broader digital resilience agenda. With initiatives such as Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), Account Aggregator (AA) frameworks and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilots, RBI has been proactively building a technology-first regulatory ecosystem. IDPIC adds the missing layer an intelligence-driven shield to safeguard the very ecosystem powering India’s fintech revolution.
Industry Implications and Next Steps
Industry experts see IDPIC as a pivotal moment for India’s banking and payments industry. As digital transactions deepen across rural and semi-urban areas, where first-time digital users are most vulnerable to scams, a centralised intelligence infrastructure will help improve trust, reliability and consumer protection.
Banks and fintechs may be required to integrate with IDPIC’s data systems through APIs, enabling real-time fraud flagging and redressal. The entity is also expected to issue periodic “fraud trend reports,” helping ecosystem players strengthen their internal controls and risk frameworks.
While the initial focus will be on payments and banking, IDPIC’s scope could expand to include insurance, lending, and securities markets, positioning it as India’s first cross-sector fraud intelligence institution. Over time, its insights could also feed into regulatory sandboxes and AI-based early warning systems.
A Step Toward a Trust-First Digital Economy
The establishment of IDPIC underlines the RBI’s commitment to balancing innovation with integrity. By placing SBI and BoB two of India’s most trusted financial institutions at the helm, the initiative reinforces confidence that India’s digital economy will be governed not just by speed and scale, but by safety and accountability.
As the digital payments landscape continues to evolve, the success of IDPIC will rest on one critical factor: the ability of all stakeholders’ banks, fintechs, telecoms and regulators to collaborate with transparency and shared purpose. Because in the next phase of India’s financial transformation, trust will be the ultimate currency.
