Global Fintech Fest 2026

Four days of Indian fintech, in the words of the people who were there

Curated on eChai, a day at a time.

Global Fintech Fest 2026 ran at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai from 8 to 11 September, the seventh edition, organised by the Payments Council of India, the Fintech Convergence Council and NPCI. The 8th was invitation-only.

Narendra Modi opened it and asked for four things: UPI's global footprint widened, fintech taken beyond payments into pensions and insurance, a Fintech Consumer Protection Index that does not yet exist, and agentic AI, tokenisation and quantum treated as the next frontier. The RBI Governor gave the welcome address and published the text.

Away from the stage the week had already started. People had been flying in since the weekend, side events were filling up faster than the sessions, booth numbers were going out, and NPCI's work on a protocol that would let AI agents pay had been reported two days early. One post noticed that crypto was not one of the three pillars, and the replies to it were the only real argument of the day.

On the 9th the exhibition hall opened and the week changed shape. Devendra Fadnavis brought the DELTA Act, a legal framework for tokenising land and other immovable assets, which is what Maharashtra committing at last year's GFF to become India's first tokenisation state has turned into. Everything else was announced on the floor: an agent that books a redBus seat and settles for it, PhonePe's first international market, cards issued at ATMs and cash paid into somebody else's account over Aadhaar, an agentic suite for merchants. Nearly every exhibitor called it their Day 1, because the conference had opened a day before the hall did.

This page is what people posted, in the order they posted it.

The two strands that do not belong to a day: the week before the doors opened, and the side programme that runs beside the sessions all four of them.

Before it opened

The week starts before the doors do. People book flights and say so, side events fill up, booth numbers go out, and one real piece of news lands two days early.

Curated from X →

Reported two days before the doors opened, and it frames the whole week: NPCI is said to be preparing a protocol that would let AI agents pay on someone's behalf. Agentic AI is one of the three pillars GFF is built around this year, and this is the plumbing underneath it.

Satya Pathak 3d

Global Fintech Fest opens in Mumbai this week (Sep 8–11). Reports say NPCI is preparing a Unified Agent Protocol so AI agents can make small UPI payments under user-set limits, building on UPI Circle and Reserve Pay. Liability rules will decide trust.
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Neethu Mariam Joy 3d

Heading to GFF 2026 in Mumbai next week!

Voice AI in BFSI is moving fast, from collections and lending to payments and risk.

Also co-hosting Espresso & Agents on Sept 10 ☕
Coffee, breakfast & good conversations before GFF.
https://luma.com/7bgzq9c3

If you’re around, say hi 😄
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Nikkitha Shanker 3d

Heading to Global Fintech Fest 2026 in Mumbai next week.

Voice AI in BFSI is moving from pilots to production, so this year’s conversations should be a lot sharper.

I’ll be there all 3 days.

On Sept 10, we’re hosting Espresso & Agents, an invite-only breakfast for BFSI - https://luma.com/7bgzq9c3

DM me if you’re around 👇
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The fullest coming-in post in the set, and the one that best explains why people travel for this: not the stage, the corridor.

pranav/condur 🏄‍♂️ 3d

Friends - I'll be making the pilgrimage to GFF (@GFFFintechFest) this year!

In Mumbai starting Tuesday (Sept 8).

Would love to meet you - especially if you're building something in BFSI / FinTech, & wherever AI intersects the two.
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Nikhil Pahwa founded MediaNama, which reports on India's technology policy, and he is arriving with an agent of his own rather than a view on them. What he is opening his DMs for is what blocks agentic payments, which is the pillar arriving as something somebody is actually using rather than as a panel topic.

Nikhil Pahwa 2d

In Mumbai this week for Global Fintech Festival, and Saki (my agent) and I are really excited about agentic payments.

DMs open: if you want to discuss what blocks agentic payments, and what people using agents are doing with them.
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Tarini Sai Padmanabhuni 2d

Heading to Mumbai this week.

I’ll be at @GffFintechfest from 8th to 11th Sept!

Looking to meet BFSI folks from banks, NBFCs, insurers, payments, risk and compliance. Especially anyone thinking about voice fraud, re KYC, identity and deepfake risk.

If you’re at GFF, ping me.
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Himanshu who's building systems for creative work 2d

In Mumbai this week for GFF (Global Fintech Festival), and happy to chat about all things AI, productivity, design and movies.

Feel free to DM.
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Satyaki 2d

will be in Mumbai for GFF from tomorrow till Friday.

if you want to chat ethereum, tokenisation & devcon, let’s catch up!
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Tokenisation is the second of the three pillars, and this is a custody company saying digital assets are now part of the mainstream fintech conversation rather than beside it.

Liminal Custody 2d

India's fintech industry converges on Mumbai this week, and digital assets are now a real part of that conversation.

Team Liminal is attending Global Fintech Fest 2026.

Meet the team on the ground:

- @Garegrat , SVP, India and Global Partnerships
- Arnab Das, Director, Communications

📅 8 to 11 September, 2026
📍 Jio World Center, Mumbai

If you are building on digital assets and want to talk about compliance, or scaling securely across the region, let's connect.

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Side events

The parallel programme: the sundowners, the breakfasts, the dinners and the soirees that run alongside the sessions and, by common account, are where most of the week actually happens. A standing part rather than a day's business, because it runs all week.

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Sagar jethi 3d

We are also hosting one of the side events. Fintech Sundowner, Wed 9 Sep, 4:30 PM, near Jio World Centre. Free, RSVP needed:
https://luma.com/u9eclpg2
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Pranav 3d

hey folks! i'm going to be at GFF, and most side events this week.

if you're here, and are in fintech/payments or want to just jam in general on what you're building, give me a DM.
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"Some of the best GFF conversations won't happen at GFF." Said while announcing a side event, so read it with that in mind, but it is also the honest description of a week where 450 sessions compete with the corridor outside them.

SuperBryn 3d

Some of the best GFF conversations won’t happen at GFF.

On Sept 10, we’re hosting Espresso & Agents with @revragai - an invite-only breakfast in BKC for CXOs & VPs across BFSI.

No panels. No pitches. Just coffee + real conversations on AI.

8-10:30 AM → https://luma.com/7bgzq9c3
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Three years of going, and an account of how the event itself has changed over them.

Rishav Agarwal | Picxele 2d

@GffFintechfest begins tomorrow, and it grows bigger and broader every year.

But for the first time in the 3 years I've attended the GFF, as I attend for the 4th time, I wanted to start with something to bring the Leaders together.

Hosting a Leadership Dinner tomorrow at 7 PM in BKC, Mumbai, and it's an invite-only dinner for CXOs, VCs, bankers, and Senior Leaders from Corporates.

Thanks to @VaaniHQ and @TransBnkIndia for co-hosting and partnering with me on such short notice.

RSVP Here: https://luma.com/leadership-dinner-mumbai
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Shweta Rajpal Kohli 2d

🚨It’s fintech season. Team Startup Policy Forum will be in Mumbai this week hosting three high-impact engagements

📍Fintech Baithak: India’s leading founders talk to us about the future of fintech.

📍Fintech Table: An evening of conversations and connections, where we bring the startup ecosystem together over dinner.

📍Markets & Macros Baatcheet with Ridham Desai, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley. In a week when IPOs are back in action, a closed-knit group of founders sits down to talk GDP, the rupee, FPI flows, IPOs, and the future of new-age listed companies.

All three are invite-only, closed-door sessions, open only to SPF members and guests.

Interested in attending? Reach out to us.
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Garima singh 1d

I’m pleased to share that I’ll be speaking at Fintech Sundowner: Decoding the Agentic Future, hosted by LF Decentralized Trust India Chapter × Road to DevCon India during GFF Week in Mumbai
Request to join: https://luma.com/u9eclpg2
#HyperledgerBesu #Ethereum #LFDecentralizedTrust
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A list of nine side events, compiled by an attendee rather than by the organisers. It is the most useful single post of Day 1 for anyone actually going.

Bhavyam Arora 1d

Just landed in Mumbai!

Will be here till 11th, attending #GFF2026

Btw, Here's the list of 9 interesting side events happening around:

8th Sept
1. The Trust Table by @DetectifAI
https://luma.com/jh91axzt

2. Leadershipt Dinner by @Rishav96agarwal
https://luma.com/leadership-dinner-mumbai

9th Sept
3. Fintech Sundowner by @lfdecentralized
https://luma.com/u9eclpg2

4. BFSI Leaders Soirêe
https://luma.com/jne49ges

5. Fintech Happy Hour
https://luma.com/1kk6brsi

10th Sept
6. Espresso & Agents by @nikkithashanker
https://luma.com/7bgzq9c3

7. Bharat Inclusion Sprint by @IIMAVentures
https://luma.com/etv81y92

8. No KYC Required
https://luma.com/e2g1t4ei

12th Spet
9. Incentiv Interact - Game Day
https://luma.com/7z0clf8o

See you all around
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Tushar | Vaani AI Research 1d

If you’re heading to Mumbai for @GffFintechfest and already figuring out what to do after the first hectic day.. then we might have a good plan for you 👀

We’re hosting an intimate Leadership Dinner in BKC on 8th September, bringing together CXOs, founders, VCs, HNIs, bankers, and corporates for an evening with Good Food, Drinks and Interesting Conversations.

📍 BKC, Mumbai (location will be shared post RSVP)
📅 8th September | 7 PM onwards
🤝 Invite-only

If you’re going to GFF and this sounds like your kind of evening, RSVP so we can plan better.
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Piyush 1d

heyy guys, at Driving Fintech Partnerships in Mumbai today 👀

great to be here and meet some of the folks building across fintech.

@IIMAVentures…

if you’re here too, come say hi!
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Everyone else in this part is announcing an event of their own. This is an attendee making the same claim with nothing to sell, on the day the main programme opened.

Meet 1d

The real GFF isn't at Jio - it's the side events and lunches where people actually talk. everyone finally figured out the venue is the least valuable part of the ticket. 2 years late, but welcome.
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A soiree for BFSI leaders, run by a voice-AI company. Almost none of the parallel programme is announced by GFF itself, so a post like this is the only record that it happened.

sharath kuntanahal 1d

@AroraBhavyam @DetectifAI @Rishav96agarwal BFSI Leaders Soirêe by @bolna_dev
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Announced on Day 2 for the following evening, at the NMACC Grand Theatre with Salim-Sulaiman playing. The side programme has been running since before the doors opened, and this is the one with a concert in it.

Ravi Maheshwari 8h

Scapia Sundowner at Global Fintech Fest 2026

Salim–Sulaiman live after a full day of panels.

Tomorrow. 10 Sep. 7 PM.

The Grand Theatre, NMACC, Mumbai.

If you’re already at GFF, this is the evening worth staying for.

@getscapia @anilgoteti

#GFF2026 #Scapia #ccgeeks

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