Mumbai: Global Fintech Fest 2026 is expected to draw about 500 investors this year, compared with more than 350 who attended the last edition, organizers said on Thursday.
"The expectation as far as investors is 500," said G. Padmanabhan, member of the GFF 2026 advisory council and former executive director of the Reserve Bank of India. He was speaking at the pre-event conference of the seventh edition of the Global Fintech Fest (GFF).
GFF is organized by the Payments Council of India, the National Payments Corporation of India and the Fintech Convergence Council, and will run from 8 to 11 September.
The event will bring delegates from more than 70 countries, over 700 speakers, more than 400 conference sessions, over 1,000 startups and more than 100,000 attendees, according to organizers. This year's theme is "Potential to Impact: Agentic AI, Quantum and Trusted Connected Global Systems for Inclusive Growth", with the programme focused on the use of emerging technologies in financial services.
Organizers have said that this year the agenda has expanded beyond payments to artificial intelligence, digital public infrastructure, digital identity, cross-border payments, capital markets, cybersecurity, quantum computing and financial inclusion.
Sohini Rajola, executive director for growth at NPCI and a member of the GFF advisory council, said the discussions around artificial intelligence would focus on how it is deployed rather than simply its potential.
"The conversation has now evolved beyond whether AI matters to questions around responsible deployment, governance, meaningful value creation, and scalable implementation," she said.
The Bharat AI Zone will return this year to showcase AI applications in financial services, including customer experience, fraud prevention, compliance, lending, wealth management and operational resilience.
GFF will also introduce TokenNext, a platform focused on emerging financial infrastructure and companies working on AI and financial technology solutions, Rajola said.
Vishwas Patel, chairman of the Payments Council of India and member of the GFF advisory council, said the event would also host the IOSCO FinTech Task Force Conference and Working Group meetings, bringing securities regulators from around the world to Mumbai.
The programme will focus more on work in AI, digital public infrastructure, tokenization, cybersecurity, digital trust and financial inclusion, Patel added.
"This year we are strengthening the Investor Connect and Startup Engagement Programme, enabling hundreds of startups to pitch directly to venture capital firms, investors, and family offices while exploring opportunities for domestic and international expansion," said Vibhav Hathi, chair of the Fintech Convergence Council.
A new initiative called FinCite at GFF 2026 will also focus on financial services, Hathi said, although details of the programme were not provided at the conference.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman are both expected to address the event.
