Visa is targeting India’s expanding affluent population with premium cards, overseas spending and new data, fraud-prevention and money-movement services as UPI captures routine low-value payments.
Visa is sharpening its strategy in India around wealthier consumers, higher-value transactions and spending that extends beyond the country’s fast-growing low-ticket digital payments market, as the Unified Payments Interface continues to dominate everyday purchases such as groceries. The payments company is also pushing further into services beyond card fees, including business-to-business transfers, data consulting, cyber resilience and AI-based fraud detection.
Suresh Sethi, Visa’s India country manager, told ET BFSI that the market is increasingly splitting into distinct segments, with UPI handling much of the routine, small-value spending while credit cards remain central to other forms of consumption. He said the company sees growing opportunity in the affluent bracket, which he described as expanding as more households move up from the mass-affluent category. Sethi also pointed to overseas travel as another support for card usage, citing Visa’s global acceptance network as a key advantage for travellers who want to rely on a single card abroad.
The company’s bet on premium customers comes as the contest in top-end cards moves well beyond traditional perks such as airport lounge access. According to the report, foreign-exchange pricing and tailored benefits are becoming more important in winning customers, especially as zero-forex products allow overseas spending at bank exchange rates without an added markup. Sethi said dynamic currency conversion has also made cards more attractive than prepaid foreign-exchange products, and he noted that Visa has broadened its premium range with Infinite Privilege and Infinite Reserve.
Visa has also been using research to back up that pivot. In a white paper released by Visa Consulting and Analytics, the company said India’s affluent segment is expanding sharply, with the number of people earning more than ₹10 lakh rising from 69 lakh to 130 lakh. The study said affluence is spreading beyond the big metro centres into cities including Ahmedabad, Surat, Jaipur and Lucknow, while credit cards continue to play a central role in giving consumers access to premium products and exclusive experiences. Visa’s broader analytics and payments-intelligence offerings, along with its push into real-time money movement and digital authentication, underline how the company is trying to build revenue streams that go well beyond the traditional card swipe.
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