Maria Franci brings over two decades of experience in the payments industry, with a strong focus on driving innovation, scale, and adoption in real-time payment systems. Maria has been part of the NPCI group for more than nine years and currently serve with NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL), where I have spent over five years contributing to the organization’s global payments strategy and initiatives. Prior to this, Maria was one of the founding product managers for the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) at the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Being part of the core team that conceptualized and launched UPI — a platform that has redefined India’s digital payments ecosystem — remains one of the most rewarding milestones in her career. Earlier, Maria spent close to a decade with Axis Bank, leading the Merchant Acquiring business at one of India’s foremost private sector banks. This experience gave her a strong foundation in payments infrastructure, merchant partnerships, and the broader dynamics of the financial ecosystem.