Flipkart, Axis Bank, and PayU have launched biometric authentication for card payments, enabling fingerprint and Face ID verification for Axis Bank cardholders in place of SMS OTPs.
Flipkart, Axis Bank, and PayU have announced the launch of biometric authentication for card payments on Flipkart's platform, enabling Axis Bank cardholders to authenticate transactions using fingerprint or Face ID on supporting Android and iOS devices, replacing SMS one-time passwords. The initiative makes Flipkart one of the first major Indian e-commerce platforms to offer biometric card payment authentication.
Under the arrangement, PayU manages the merchant-side infrastructure, including device security and authentication flows, while Axis Bank leverages Wibmo, a PayU company, to power biometric verification on the issuer side. The feature uses device fingerprinting and optimised checks, reducing the risk of SIM-swap and OTP-based fraud while providing a faster authentication mechanism already familiar to smartphone users.
Regulatory alignment and fraud context
The launch is aligned with the Reserve Bank of India's Authentication Mechanisms for Digital Payment Transactions Directions 2025 circular, which explicitly encourages the adoption of biometric and risk-based authentication over SMS OTPs. Digital payment fraud values in India surged more than five times to exceed approximately USD 14.69 (INR 1.400 crore) in the financial year 2024, according to RBI-linked data, underscoring the urgency of moving beyond OTP-dependent authentication.
The collaboration represents a device-bound biometric authentication model at the issuer level, positioning it as infrastructure for broader adoption across the Indian digital payments ecosystem as fraud sophistication increases and regulatory requirements for stronger authentication tighten.
Gaurav Arora, Vice President of Payments and SuperCoins at Flipkart, said the integration of biometric authentication reflects a commitment to building safety into consumer payments at a time of increasingly sophisticated digital fraud risks. Hemang Dattani, Chief Business Officer at PayU Payments, said the partnership marks an important step towards a faster, more secure, and improved digital payments experience for Indian consumers.
