“True progress isn’t measured by how fast the top 10% move; it is measured by whether we leave anyone behind.” When Sameer Nigam uttered these words early during his keynote at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026, held in Mumbai on 9 September, they served as a philosophical framing for the next decade of India’s digital finance story. It was telling that when Nigam took the stage at GFF 2026, he did not begin with transaction volumes, market share or product launches. Instead, the PhonePe founder and CEO opened with a question that has increasingly come to define the debate around India’s digital public infrastructure: who remains excluded even after a decade of rapid digitisation? And what does inclusion look like on the ground?
Speaking during a session titled ‘PhonePe @ 10 – Unlocking Financial Inclusion for All’, Nigam framed the company’s first decade as part of a larger national transformation. “Over the past decade, PhonePe has operated as a technology pioneer charting India’s progress. Every product across our ecosystem has been thoughtfully crafted to honour our core purpose: removing friction from progress and ensuring that financial security and growth belong to everyone,” he said.
