Flipkart's Super.money bets on AI agents to take on bigger rivals

Super.money, a payments platform backed by Flipkart, is introducing AI agents capable of autonomously purchasing products and digital gold on behalf of users. This development positions Super.money to compete with larger rivals in India's payments market. The platform's founder and CEO, Prakash Sikaria, believes that the emerging architecture will enable agents representing merchants and consumers to interact directly, streamlining the process from product discovery to payment.

Super.money's AI agents differ from traditional chatbots as they can act based on instructions rather than simply providing information. Users can instruct an agent to find an eligible product within a budget or execute a purchase when specified conditions are met, all within the parameters of the payment framework. The National Payments Corporation of India is developing protocols for identifying and authorizing AI agents on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

The proposed Unified Agent Protocol will support controls such as spending limits, identity checks, and audit trails.

Initially, the focus will be on small, frequent purchases, with more complex conditional transactions expected as safeguards and liability rules develop. Super.money's push aligns with the broader trend of integrating AI into payments. The company has added products such as SplitStore, which allows users to browse and pay for Flipkart products or use a pay-later facility, and digital gold, which includes purchase, sale, and reconciliation procedures.

These services provide potential use cases for AI agents that can move from a customer's instruction to a transaction without requiring multiple screens. However, ensuring that delegated authority remains narrow enough to prevent unwanted or mistaken purchases remains a central challenge.