As India’s digital payments surge past record volumes, its public sector banks are racing to stay ahead of cybercriminals. In a rare collaborative effort, the State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda are leading a consortium to build a national AI-driven fraud detection network designed to protect millions of daily transactions from sophisticated digital threats.
A New Front in India’s Digital Defense
Digital transactions have transformed the way India moves money—from street vendors accepting QR codes to e-commerce platforms driving seamless payments. Yet the same infrastructure that enabled financial inclusion has become fertile ground for online fraud. To counter this, two of the country’s largest lenders, the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Bank of Baroda (BoB), are jointly developing an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) system capable of detecting fraud in real time.
The initiative is part of a wider national strategy to strengthen digital payment infrastructure amid a surge in phishing scams, mule accounts, and coordinated cyberattacks targeting consumers and banks alike. Both institutions have committed ₹10 crore each toward the first phase of development, signaling a shift toward technology-led collaboration in financial crime prevention.
Inside the Indian Digital Payment Intelligence Corporation
At the heart of this initiative lies the newly formed Indian Digital Payment Intelligence Corporation (IDPIC) — a Section 8 non-profit company backed by 12 public sector banks as shareholders. Envisioned as India’s central intelligence hub for payment security, the corporation will monitor transactions across member banks, identify suspicious activity, and enable rapid, coordinated responses to threats.
Unlike traditional siloed security systems, IDPIC will aggregate data across multiple institutions, creating a shared national network for fraud detection. The move reflects growing awareness within India’s banking ecosystem that cyber defense can no longer be handled in isolation — especially as criminal syndicates exploit gaps between institutions.
IDPIC: The Banking Sector’s New Shield Against Cyber Thieves
The Power of AI and Behavioral Biometrics
The IDPIC platform will deploy advanced AI models trained on massive transaction datasets to recognize unusual spending patterns, location mismatches, or deviations in user behavior — hallmarks of fraudulent activity. Officials familiar with the system say it builds on, but goes beyond, the Reserve Bank of India’s existing MuleHunter AI framework by incorporating behavioral biometrics and self-learning algorithms that improve over time.
By applying machine learning to behavioral data — such as login timing, device fingerprints, and user motion — the platform can flag subtle anomalies that static rule-based systems often miss.
A Collective Push Against a Rising Threat
The urgency behind the project is clear. India now records one of the highest volumes of digital transactions globally, and with it, a parallel spike in cyber fraud. Phishing rings, social-engineering scams, and account takeovers have eroded confidence in online banking — especially among rural users new to digital finance.
Technology-driven initiatives like IDPIC mark a shift from reactive case handling to proactive risk management. Beyond reducing fraud, the platform aims to foster collaboration and data-sharing across banks — historically a challenge in India’s fragmented financial landscape. For consumers, it offers reassurance that their digital payments are not just fast and convenient, but increasingly secure.
