This session will provide an overview of the highly successful approach taken by India and Brazil towards the provision of digital public infrastructure through the standardization of payment interfaces. This is particularly timely as the most recent G20 Digital Economy Ministers meeting held in India recognized the growth of digital public infrastructures, including in the sphere of digital payments, as a key enabler of digital inclusion and innovation.

The session will begin by outlining the background, growth story and path to development of digital payments infrastructures in the context of Brazil’s PIX and India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI). Using a comparative lens, we will take a deep dive into the characteristics of these systems, nature of system participants, and the ownership and governance model. Besides casting the spotlight on these systems, the session will also explore what lessons the experience from PIX and UPI may hold for the development of digital payments infrastructures in other parts of the world. We will open the floor to debate on issues such as the role of public-private partnership models, participation in the framing of payments standards, allocation of costs and responsibilities between participants, and accountability structures for digital payments infrastructures.