India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, at the Digital Payments Awards 2025 in New Delhi, urged fintech startups to devise robust anti-fraud and “digital arrest” solutions—especially to counteract the growing threat of AI-powered deepfakes. She emphasized that proactive innovation in fintech security is essential to maintain consumer trust and protect the integrity of digital financial systems.

Meanwhile, Zerodha’s CEO, Nithin Kamath, flagged a rising wave of broker impersonation scams targeting retail investors. He endorsed SEBI’s enhanced UPI security measures—rolling out visual verification, QR code authentication, and broker identity checks—set to launch in October, aiming to ensure transactions are conducted with genuine, SEBI-registered brokers.

On the tech front, Google has unveiled its “Safety Charter” for India, an AI-powered initiative projected to save ₹20,000 crore in 2025 by detecting and preventing cybercrimes in real time—especially deepfake and UPI-related scams. It also includes quantum-ready enterprise security upgrades to bolster digital defenses for individuals and businesses alike .

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