India has the potential to become the biggest digital economy in the world, Mastercard global CEO Michael Miebach has said. In an interview with CNBC TV18, Miebach, who was on his first visit to India after taking charge at his role, spoke on a number of topics, including the future of payment systems and the opportunities he sees in India.
“What I see today, particularly through the lens of our business when we look at the digital economy and how it is growing in India and growth rates of UPI and so forth, there is technology put to work at scale and unprecedented ways in India,” Miebach told CNBC TV18 in the exclusive interview. “As a tech company and as a tech geek, I find that hugely exciting,” he said.
The Mastercard CEO said that he sees payment models in India that aligns with his company’s growth ambitions in the country. “One should think about and also see what else Mastercard can do to evolve its business in partnerships with fintech and other companies that are using these technologies here in India,” he said.
There is an amazing drive in India for financial inclusion, Miebach observed on the country’s inclusive digital economy front. “We think that there is going to be 100 million people that will join to form a digital economy in India in the next couple of years,” he noted.
Miebach was asked what kind of financial innovation can be exported from India. “Pay every which way you want, whenever you want always on the basis of it is safe and secure. That is the headline,” he replied.
“It is going to be paying in the metaverse, it is going to be paying through voice, it is going to be paying through offline and in areas of the country where you have no GSM coverage or it is not as good as it needs to be. So every bit of technology that is there today is going to give us a huge boost,” the Mastercard CEO explained.
Miebach also noted that Mastercard is not merely a credit card company anymore and has transformed to become a global payments and technology firm. “We are not a credit card company. As a payment technology company, our strategy is to be in payments, whatever choice of payments is there.”
He further said that he believes the question of trust and security is occupies the central role in a digital economy. “The question on cyber security and how do you make sure that these payments remain safe as this becomes one of the largest digital economies in the world, that is a partnership area,” he said.
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