It’s no secret that India is one of the biggest opportunities on the planet right now. A digital economy rocketing towards $1 trillion, 800 million+ internet users… the numbers are staggering. But as many global businesses are discovering, launching here isn’t quite plug-and-play.
Earlier this year, one of the world’s most popular AI platforms learned this the hard way. They launched their premium subscription in India, and almost immediately, users started complaining about payment failures. Their globally-trusted, top-tier payment processor just couldn’t handle India’s favorite way to pay: UPI.
It’s a story we see all the time. And it’s exactly why we put together The India Expansion Playbook. We wanted to decode the Indian market for global businesses and shed light on the most common hurdles we see.
The Simplicity is an Illusion
For anyone who has used it, UPI feels like magic. Scan a QR code, tap approve on your phone, and you’re done. Three seconds, tops. It’s no wonder it accounts for over 75% of all digital payments in the country.
But behind that seamless experience is a mind-bogglingly complex system. As we break down in the report, a single UPI payment involves real-time coordination between over 400 banks, instant tokenization, and AI-powered fraud checks. It’s simple for the customer by design, but for a business trying to integrate it, it’s anything but.
India Has its own Playbook
This is often the biggest surprise for businesses expanding here. Strategies that were successful in Europe or the US often need a different approach to connect with the Indian market.
In the playbook, we explore how India largely skipped the credit card era and jumped straight to mobile payments. We look at what it takes to earn trust in a market that’s both incredibly tech-savvy and deeply cautious, and where the next wave of 500 million customers is really coming from (Hint: it’s not the big metros).
Understanding these unique principles is the key to unlocking the opportunity here.
It’s Not About Product-Market Fit. It’s About Payment-Market Fit.
Getting your product right is just the first step. To truly scale in India, you have to get the payments right. The payment flow is more than just a transaction; it’s the foundation of your customer relationship.
If you don’t offer UPI, you’re invisible to a majority of your potential customers. If your UPI integration is clumsy and fails often, you’ll lose the trust you need to grow.
This is the puzzle we wanted to help businesses solve. The India Expansion Playbook offers a checklist for everything you need to win here—from mastering UPI and navigating compliance to optimizing your checkout for higher success rates.
The opportunity in India is immense, but it only rewards those who adapt.
Ready to get started?
