India may not yet be recognised as an artificial intelligence exporter, but its fintech expertise is rapidly becoming a globally sought-after commodity. This candid assessment from Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs, captures a fundamental shift in how international markets perceive Indian technology capabilities. Whilst AI remains dominated by Silicon Valley and select global hubs, fintech represents India’s genuine competitive advantage—a sector where the country’s unique combination of technological innovation, massive consumer base, and battle-tested solutions for complex payment ecosystems creates exportable intellectual property. Pine Labs itself exemplifies this trajectory, with international revenue growing nearly 58% between 2023 and 2025, demonstrating that customers abroad are genuinely welcoming Indian fintech solutions. The company’s $3.64 billion valuation following its 2025 IPO signals investor confidence that Indian fintech firms can compete directly with established giants like Stripe and Adyen in digital payments. The question is no longer whether Indian fintech can go global— it’s how rapidly this transformation will unfold.
India’s Fintech Foundations Built on Innovation and Scale
India’s fintech sector has experienced explosive growth driven by a distinctive combination of factors rarely present simultaneously in other markets. Technological innovation, supported by a thriving startup ecosystem and increasing venture capital availability, has produced sophisticated payment platforms, lending solutions, and financial infrastructure that rival global standards. A large and diverse consumer base spanning urban professionals to rural farmers creates unique challenges that, when solved, produce robust solutions applicable to other emerging markets facing similar complexity.
Government policies have played a catalytic role in this ecosystem development. The Unified Payments Interface, launched in 2016, created a digital payments infrastructure that processes billions of transactions monthly whilst remaining free for consumers and merchants. This government-led standardisation eliminated fragmentation that plagued earlier digital payment efforts, enabling rapid adoption and creating a foundation upon which fintech companies could build value-added services. Aadhaar-based digital identity verification similarly reduced onboarding friction whilst improving security, addressing fundamental challenges that constrain fintech adoption in many markets.
Pine Labs has positioned itself at the heart of this growth, evolving from a point-of-sale terminal provider to a comprehensive fintech platform offering payments, credit, loyalty, and software-as-a-service solutions. This evolution reflects broader sector dynamics where simple payment processing represents table stakes rather than differentiation. Companies that can bundle complementary services—enabling merchants to not just accept payments but access working capital, understand customer behaviour, and manage operations—capture disproportionate value whilst creating switching costs that improve retention.
International Expansion Demonstrates Global Applicability
Pine Labs’ nearly 58% international revenue growth between 2023 and 2025 provides concrete validation that Indian fintech solutions resonate beyond domestic borders. This expansion has focused particularly on markets like the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates, where regulatory frameworks accommodate foreign fintech providers whilst merchant ecosystems seek innovative payment solutions. Importantly, these international markets deliver higher gross margins compared to India’s intensely competitive domestic landscape, improving overall profitability whilst diversifying revenue concentration.
The company’s 2025 IPO, valuing Pine Labs at $3.64 billion, represents a significant milestone both for the firm and India’s fintech sector broadly. This valuation reflects investor confidence that Indian fintech companies possess technology, operational capabilities, and market understanding necessary to compete globally. The public listing also provides capital and credibility that facilitate international expansion, enabling Pine Labs to invest in local teams, regulatory compliance, and marketing necessary to challenge entrenched competitors.
Rau‘s assertion that Pine Labs and similar companies could challenge global giants like Stripe and Adyen isn’t mere aspiration. These established players, whilst possessing significant advantages in brand recognition and existing merchant relationships, also carry legacy technology debt and organisational structures optimised for developed markets. Indian fintech firms, building modern technology stacks from the ground up and experienced in serving complex, diverse markets, bring agility and innovation that can disrupt established competitive dynamics. The payments business model is evolving towards embedded finance, data-driven analytics, and value-added services—precisely the direction where Indian companies’ platform approaches provide a competitive advantage.
Navigating Challenges Whilst Capitalising on Structural Opportunities
Despite optimistic growth trajectories, Indian fintech firms confront substantial challenges in global expansion. Regulatory hurdles vary significantly across jurisdictions, requiring substantial investment in compliance infrastructure and local expertise. Competition from established global players who possess deep pockets, extensive merchant networks, and trusted brands creates formidable barriers to entry. Elevated customer acquisition costs, particularly in developed markets where switching inertia is strong, pressure profitability and extend timelines to positive unit economics.
These challenges, whilst significant, aren’t insurmountable. Indian fintech firms are exploring differentiated business models and value-added services that go beyond simple payment processing. Credit products that leverage alternative data for underwriting, loyalty programmes that drive merchant retention, and SaaS solutions that address broader business operations needs create multiple revenue streams whilst increasing platform stickiness. This bundled approach transforms fintech platforms from commoditised payment processors into essential business infrastructure.
Rau‘s perspective that fintech’s future lies in innovation and adaptation, with companies offering scalable profitability models and strong unit economics positioned to succeed globally, reflects pragmatic optimism grounded in market realities. His observation that in fintech, tomorrow will always be better than today, captures the sector’s fundamental dynamism—continuous technological evolution, expanding digital adoption, and increasing financial services sophistication create perpetual growth opportunities for companies that can adapt and innovate.
As India’s fintech sector matures from domestic phenomenon to global force, companies like Pine Labs are demonstrating that Indian technology solutions possess genuine international competitive advantage. The 58% international revenue growth, successful IPO at a multi-billion dollar valuation, and expanding presence in developed markets provide tangible evidence that Indian fintech’s global breakthrough isn’t speculative—it’s underway. The sector’s combination of technological innovation, market-tested solutions, and supportive ecosystem positions it to capture a meaningful share of the global fintech opportunity, challenging established players whilst bringing innovation honed in one of the world’s most complex and dynamic markets. India may not yet export artificial intelligence globally, but its fintech playbook is already proving its worth on the international stage.