AI-enabled attacks, payment API vulnerabilities and interconnected digital infrastructure are making threat intelligence and operational resilience critical priorities for banks, NBFCs and fintech companies.
India’s digital financial ecosystem has transformed how money moves, how credit is delivered and how customers interact with financial institutions. Real-time payments, mobile banking, digital lending and integrated fintech services have expanded convenience and access. But as financial services become more connected, the potential consequences of a cyber incident also grow.
The Digital Threat Report 2025–26 for India’s BFSI and payments ecosystem, released by MeitY, CERT-In, CSIRT-Fin and SISA in July 2026, examines emerging threats and measures financial institutions can take to improve security and resilience.
AI is reshaping the economics of cyberattacks
AI can help defenders analyse threats and automate security operations. It can also help attackers produce convincing social-engineering messages, scale malicious activity and adapt their techniques. Financial institutions need continuous monitoring, identity protection and rapid incident response, alongside security awareness.
Payment APIs require stronger protection
Digital payments and lending depend on integrations between banks, fintechs, payment processors and other service providers. These connections make services faster and more convenient, but they also create critical security dependencies. CERT-In’s activity updates should be checked directly for the latest verified alerts before publishing specific claims about active campaigns.
API security must go beyond checking whether a request comes from an approved network or application. Financial institutions need to verify the identity, authority and context of each sensitive transaction.
Five areas that need immediate attention
- Identity and credential security: protect privileged accounts, safeguard API credentials, enforce strong authentication and promptly revoke unnecessary access.
- Transaction-level controls: validate beneficiaries, transaction limits, authorisation and business rules where funds are moved.
- Continuous threat monitoring: correlate security events across applications, APIs, identities and infrastructure.
- Third-party and supply-chain assurance: review vendor access, integration security, incident reporting and the resilience of critical external services.
- Incident response and recovery: rehearse how to contain compromised accounts, suspend suspicious transactions, isolate affected systems and restore critical services.
Threat intelligence must lead to action
Reports and alerts provide value only when organisations translate them into operational decisions. Security teams should use relevant intelligence to reassess exposed assets, review controls, prioritise remediation and test whether existing defences can withstand realistic attack scenarios.
For banks and NBFCs, this also means involving business operations, fraud management, compliance and technology partners in incident preparation. A coordinated response can be as important as the initial detection of an attack.
The BFSI NXT perspective
India’s digital financial infrastructure is a strategic strength. Protecting that strength requires security to evolve alongside innovation. Financial institutions must secure not just their networks and applications, but also identities, APIs, transactions, vendors and recovery processes. The next frontier of digital banking will be defined by how confidently the ecosystem can innovate, detect threats and continue operating when attacks occur.
Related reading
- AI Is Changing the Cybersecurity Equation for Indian Banks
- Open Finance Will Scale Only When Consent, Data Quality and Cybersecurity Work Together
