78% of Indian Businesses Would Switch to Payment Gateways with AI Capabilities: Zoho Survey
Zoho survey: 78% of Indian businesses would switch payment gateways for AI-driven fraud detection and reconciliation.
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78 per cent of Indian businesses would switch their primary payment gateway for one offering AI capabilities they expect, according to Zoho’s Indian Merchant Payments Survey 2026, based on responses from over 700 businesses ranging from MSMEs to large enterprises.
Nearly 60 per cent of businesses are already using AI in their payment operations, and another 20 per cent are evaluating it. Fraud detection, smart payment routing and automated reconciliation ranked as the top AI capabilities businesses expect from payment providers, followed by risk assessment and dispute settlement.
65 per cent of businesses cited pre-built integrations with accounting, billing or ERP systems as the main reason for staying with their current payment gateway, particularly among medium and large enterprises. Conversely, same-day settlement, lower fees and better reconciliation were the top reasons businesses cited for switching providers, with 83 per cent willing to pay for guaranteed same-day settlement.
Payment failures, refund delays and slow settlement were the top challenges reported, with 56 per cent citing payment failures, largely during high-traffic periods. 46 per cent cited reconciliation as a challenge, with 61 per cent spending one to three hours daily on it. Among businesses that experienced fraud, UPI social engineering scams were most common at 58 per cent, followed by false chargebacks and COD return fraud.
“Indian businesses have moved well past asking whether digital payments work to whether their payment infrastructure is fast, reliable and intelligent. Zoho Payments is natively woven into every account receivable and payable workflow across our finance suite,” said Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, CEO, Zoho Payment Technologies.
78 per cent of Indian businesses would switch their primary payment gateway for one offering AI capabilities they expect, according to Zoho’s Indian Merchant Payments Survey 2026, based on responses from over 700 businesses ranging from MSMEs to large enterprises.
Nearly 60 per cent of businesses are already using AI in their payment operations, and another 20 per cent are evaluating it. Fraud detection, smart payment routing and automated reconciliation ranked as the top AI capabilities businesses expect from payment providers, followed by risk assessment and dispute settlement.
65 per cent of businesses cited pre-built integrations with accounting, billing or ERP systems as the main reason for staying with their current payment gateway, particularly among medium and large enterprises. Conversely, same-day settlement, lower fees and better reconciliation were the top reasons businesses cited for switching providers, with 83 per cent willing to pay for guaranteed same-day settlement.
Payment failures, refund delays and slow settlement were the top challenges reported, with 56 per cent citing payment failures, largely during high-traffic periods. 46 per cent cited reconciliation as a challenge, with 61 per cent spending one to three hours daily on it. Among businesses that experienced fraud, UPI social engineering scams were most common at 58 per cent, followed by false chargebacks and COD return fraud.
“Indian businesses have moved well past asking whether digital payments work to whether their payment infrastructure is fast, reliable and intelligent. Zoho Payments is natively woven into every account receivable and payable workflow across our finance suite,” said Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, CEO, Zoho Payment Technologies.
