OpenAI partners with Pine Labs to integrate AI into digital payments and commerce workflows across India.
OpenAI is stepping up its efforts in India through a new partnership with Pine Labs, aiming to bring AI-powered tools into the country’s fast-growing digital payments ecosystem. The collaboration will integrate OpenAI’s technology into Pine Labs’ payments infrastructure.
The goal is to automate settlement, reconciliation, and invoicing processes, helping businesses manage transactions more efficiently. The announcement comes at a time when India is positioning itself as a global hub for applied artificial intelligence, especially in sectors such as finance, healthcare, and education.
Bringing AI Into Payments Workflows
Under the agreement, Pine Labs will embed OpenAI’s application programming interfaces into its payments and commerce systems. These APIs allow companies to plug advanced AI models directly into existing software platforms.
The integration will support AI-assisted settlement and invoicing workflows. This means tasks that previously required manual review, such as matching payments, reconciling accounts, and generating invoices, can now be handled by AI-driven systems. For businesses that process large volumes of transactions every day, automation could significantly reduce time and operational costs.
Moving Beyond ChatGPT
The partnership reflects OpenAI’s broader effort to expand its footprint in India beyond consumer-facing tools like ChatGPT. While ChatGPT remains one of its most visible products, the company is increasingly focused on embedding its models into enterprise systems and critical infrastructure.
Earlier this week, OpenAI also announced collaborations with leading Indian engineering, medical, and design institutions to bring AI tools into higher education. The company sees India’s vast developer community and more than a billion internet users as central to the next phase of AI growth. By partnering with Pine Labs, OpenAI gains access to India’s payments backbone and a network of merchants, banks, and financial institutions.
Pine Labs’ Internal AI Use
Pine Labs has already been using AI internally to streamline parts of its operations. According to Chief Executive B Amrish Rau, the company previously relied on dozens of employees to manually process settlement data from multiple banks before markets opened each day.
That process often took hours. With AI automation, settlement times have been reduced to minutes. Now, the company plans to extend those efficiencies to its merchants and corporate clients. Rau said the focus will initially be on business-to-business workflows, where repetitive financial tasks can be handled under clear rules and guidelines.
Faster Adoption in B2B Commerce
Rau believes business-to-business use cases will see faster AI adoption compared to consumer payments. In areas such as invoicing, reconciliation, and payments orchestration, AI agents can manage tasks from start to finish. These processes typically involve large data volumes and structured workflows, making them well-suited to automation.
He said that while there is significant discussion around consumer AI, the larger impact may come from efficiency gains in B2B operations. Consumer-facing payment systems may take longer to evolve, partly due to regulatory requirements and the need for tighter authorization controls.
Overseas Rollout Likely to Move Quicker
According to Rau, Pine Labs expects AI-driven payment automation to move faster in some overseas markets. Countries in parts of the Middle East and Southeast Asia may allow more autonomous agent-led transactions. In India, adoption is likely to be more gradual.
Regulatory frameworks require strict oversight of payment authorization, which may limit fully automated agent-initiated transactions for now. Pine Labs has already begun prototyping agent-led payment systems in certain international markets, testing how AI can handle more complex transaction flows.
Strengthening Pine Labs’ Platform
For Pine Labs, the partnership is also a strategic move to deepen its relationship with merchants. By offering AI-powered services alongside payment processing, the company aims to become a broader commerce platform. As transaction volumes increase and merchants rely more on its ecosystem, Pine Labs expects incremental revenue growth over time.
According to its most recent prospectus, Pine Labs works with over 980,000 merchants, 716 consumer brands, and 177 financial institutions. The company has processed more than six billion transactions, totaling over ₹11.4 trillion in value. It operates in 20 countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the UAE, parts of Africa, and the United States. This international presence gives the OpenAI partnership reach beyond India.
No Revenue Sharing, Non-Exclusive Deal
Rau clarified that the agreement does not involve revenue sharing between the two companies. Pine Labs will benefit from payment-related services, while OpenAI will retain revenues linked to its AI products.
The partnership is also non-exclusive. Pine Labs remains open to working with other AI providers if needed. Rau compared the arrangement to OpenAI’s collaboration with Stripe in the United States.
Security and Compliance Remain a Priority
As AI becomes more deeply integrated into payment systems, security and compliance are key concerns. Rau said Pine Labs is building additional safeguards to ensure merchant and consumer transaction data remains protected.
The company is focused on maintaining regulatory compliance while automating workflows. Protecting sensitive financial data remains central to its expansion plans.
India’s Growing AI Ecosystem
The announcement comes as India hosts its AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. Global companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, are participating, alongside Indian startups showcasing large-scale AI applications. The summit reflects India’s ambition to become a leading player in applied AI. With partnerships like this one, international AI firms are positioning themselves to play a role in that growth.
For OpenAI, the Pine Labs deal represents another step toward embedding its models into real-world, high-volume systems. For Pine Labs, it signals a move beyond payment processing into AI-driven commerce. Together, the companies are betting that automation will play a major role in the future of financial infrastructure in India and beyond.
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