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In the fast-evolving digital payments ecosystem, merchant acquiring has become more complex—and more critical—than ever. The traditional approach of static KYC processes and reactive risk assessment no longer aligns with the needs of today’s fast-moving, compliance-heavy financial environment.
Whether you’re a bank acquiring millions of UPI transactions daily, or a fintech scaling new merchant verticals, the ability to onboard, classify, and monitor merchants intelligently and in real time has become a competitive edge.
At CARD91, we believe the future of merchant acquiring is not only digital—but AI-driven.
Conventional merchant onboarding is often manual, document-heavy, and time-consuming. Risk scoring is rule-based, limited to surface-level checks, and rarely dynamic. Merchant categories (MCCs) are broad, leading to ineffective classification and higher chances of risk exposure.
As a result:
1. High-risk merchants may slip through the cracks.
2. Legitimate businesses face onboarding delays.
3. Acquirers struggle with fragmented data and outdated risk models.
Credit Line on UPI is integrated into UPI apps, giving users immediate access to pre-approved credit without requiring additional applications or cards. The system supports flexible repayment options, including pay-later models and EMIs, offering a user-friendly, fast, and secure experience. Credit limits are personalised to match each user’s financial profile, making the service highly adaptable to diverse customer needs.
AI introduces a new way to approach acquiring—one that’s data-rich, real-time, and contextually adaptive. Here’s how:
Using AI and OCR technologies, KYC documents can be auto-extracted, verified, and cross-validated with public data sources. This reduces onboarding time from days to minutes while staying aligned with RBI compliance norms.
At CARD91, our onboarding engine helps banks and fintechs verify merchants faster, flag inconsistencies early, and drastically reduce manual intervention.
Every merchant poses a unique risk profile. AI models assess multiple data signals—business type, transaction patterns, geographic indicators, even device data—to assign dynamic risk scores.
Unlike rule-based systems, AI can:
Gone are the days of generic MCC-based grouping. AI enables fine-grained merchant segmentation based on actual business behavior and transaction attributes.
Why does this matter?
AI doesn’t stop at onboarding. It evolves with the merchant. Real-time surveillance models detect unusual behavior—like sudden refund spikes or off-hours activity—and trigger adaptive controls like temporary limits or manual review.
This enables acquirers to protect themselves while maintaining business continuity for legitimate merchants.
For financial institutions looking to scale merchant acquiring without increasing operational overhead, AI offers scalability, security, and strategic clarity. It:
Improves trust among merchants through smoother onboarding and support.
At CARD91, we’ve integrated AI at the core of our UPI Acquiring Stack—from onboarding to ongoing risk management. Our platform enables:
We offer a single portal that brings visibility, configurability, and control—all built on PCI-DSS certified infrastructure trusted by leading banks.
In a world where every transaction is instant and every risk is real-time, banks and fintechs cannot rely on yesterday’s tools to solve today’s problems. AI is not just an add-on—it is essential infrastructure for future-ready merchant acquiring.
At CARD91, we’re helping banks move from reactive compliance to proactive intelligence—one merchant at a time.
Want to experience AI-powered acquiring in action? Book a demo with our team and reimagine what merchant onboarding can be.
To know more about our offerings connect with our experts
1142, 6th main road, Sector 7, HSR Layout, Bengaluru, karnataka – 560102
Sales: sales@card91.io
HR: careers@card91.io
Media: comms@card91.io
Support: support@card91.io
