Flipkart, Axis Bank and PayU on Tuesday announced the launch of biometric authentication for card payments on the e-commerce platform, allowing Axis Bank cardholders to approve transactions using their fingerprint or Face ID instead of a one-time password (OTP).

The feature is currently live for Axis Bank cardholders on supporting Android and iOS devices. PayU handles the merchant-side infrastructure and authentication flows, while Axis Bank uses Wibmo — a PayU subsidiary — to power verification on the issuer side. Flipkart said it is among the first major Indian e-commerce platforms to offer this capability.

The move comes against a backdrop of rising digital payment fraud in India. According to RBI-linked data cited in the announcement, fraud values grew more than fivefold to exceed ₹1,400 crore in FY 2024. The Reserve Bank of India has since issued its ‘Authentication Mechanisms for Digital Payment Transactions Directions, 2025’ circular, which explicitly encourages biometric and risk-based authentication over SMS OTPs.

The three companies say the system reduces exposure to SIM-swap and OTP-interception fraud through device binding and enhanced security checks. The authentication method is already familiar to most smartphone users, which the partners argue lowers the adoption barrier.

Gaurav Arora, Vice President of Payments and SuperCoins at Flipkart, said the integration was designed to meet regulatory requirements while reducing friction for shoppers. Hemang Dattani, Chief Business Officer at PayU Payments, described it as a step towards a faster and more secure checkout experience. Arnika Dixit, President and Head of Cards, Payments and Wealth Management at Axis Bank, said the bank intends to extend such innovations as digital commerce continues to grow.

The partnership is positioned as a compliance-aligned response to RBI’s push to modernise payment authentication, with the three firms indicating the model could be expanded further.

Published on April 28, 2026