Beyond Automation: How Setu is Ushering in the Era of "Agentic" Bill Payments on Claude and ChatGPT

Beyond automation: introducing India’s first agentic bill payment experience by Setu

The last decade of fintech in India has been defined by speed. Thanks to the phenomenal success of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), the act of moving money has become instantaneous. But while the transaction is solved, the management of our financial lives remains stuck in a manual, fragmented past.

Today, Setu by Pine Labs is proud to announce a paradigm shift. We are launching India’s first Agentic Bill Payments Experience, effectively bridging the gap between Generative AI and real-world financial action. Accessible now on Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, this isn't just a chatbot update—it is the first step toward autonomous personal finance, in your hands.

Watch the launch video here#

Click here to sign up for early access

The silent crisis: the “cognitive tax” of bill management#

On the surface, paying bills today feels easy. A few taps and you’re done. But the reality is different. While payments take seconds, managing bills still takes time, attention, and mental energy every single month.

Most people end up dealing with an invisible “admin layer” that quietly adds stress to everyday life:

• The scavenger hunt
  Important bills are scattered everywhere—email inboxes, SMS threads, WhatsApp messages, and sometimes even paper mail.

• The mental load
  Remembering due dates for electricity, water, credit cards, and subscriptions becomes a constant background worry. There’s always that nagging feeling you might have missed something.

• The “autopilot” risk
  Auto-pay helps, but it’s not foolproof. Unused subscriptions keep renewing, billing mistakes go unnoticed, and if a utility bill suddenly spikes because of an error or issue, it still gets paid automatically.

In short, we’ve made paying bills faster—but we haven’t made managing them any easier. We have digitized the payment, but we haven't digitized the intelligence required to manage it.

Enter the era of agentic AI#

AI is going through a quiet but important shift. Until now, most AI tools were good at talking. They could answer questions, explain things, and help you think—but they still relied on you to take action.

Setu’s new solution, is your personal AI assistant that sits at the center of this shift. Instead of acting like a regular chatbot, an “Agent” can guide tasks within clearly defined rules. It works alongside you, helping connect information and actions in one place.

So rather than just telling you, “Your bill is ₹1,200,” Setu’s agent helps bring the whole flow together. It pulls in your bills, checks them for issues, and helps you decide what to do next—based on the boundaries and approvals you set.

The result? Bill payments become simpler and more organized. Less remembering, less back-and-forth, and more clarity—while you stay firmly in control.

What makes this work: safety, intelligence, and action#

Setu’s Agent is built for a new AI-first world. It combines your bill and payment data with the reasoning power of the best AI models available today—and puts that intelligence to work for you.

Here’s what it actually does, in practice:

All your bills, in one place#

Instead of logging into multiple apps or websites, the Agent automatically pulls in all your bills for you. Everything shows up in one simple view, right inside the chat interface you’re already using. No more switching apps. No more hunting around.

Flags problems before they cost you money#

This is where AI really earns its place. The Agent looks at your current bill and compares it to what you usually pay.

For example: if your electricity bill is typically ₹1,500 and suddenly jumps to ₹4,000, the Agent spots it immediately. You’re alerted before the payment goes through—saving you from surprise charges, long complaint threads, and refund chases later.

AI that acts only on your terms#

When it comes to money, control matters. That’s why this system is designed with you firmly in charge:

• Payments use pre-blocked funds, adding a layer of safety.

• The Agent follows clear limits and approvals you’ve set.

• It doesn’t make decisions on its own—it only acts within the boundaries you define.

Smart insights that help you spend better#

Because the Agent sees all your bills together, it can spot patterns over time. It helps you understand where your money is going and calls out areas where you might be overspending.

Over time, it builds a clearer picture of your everyday finances without you having to dig through statements.

Click here to sign up for early access

Why this matters: the bigger picture#

We’re moving toward a future where managing money doesn’t demand constant attention. Bill payments, spending patterns, and error checks can start running quietly in the background—much like electricity or the internet today.

With this launch, Setu is taking a meaningful step toward that future in India. By working directly inside platforms like Claude and ChatGPT, it becomes possible to manage real financial tasks without stepping out of the AI tools you already use.

At its core, this is about bringing together India’s strong payment infrastructure—UPI and BBPS—with the reasoning power of modern AI models, so financial intelligence finally matches the speed of digital payments.

Availability and next steps#

The future isn’t something you have to wait for—it’s already here. The Setu Agentic Bill Payments Experience is available starting today on Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s ChatGPT as part of a phased rollout. Users can sign up for early access by clicking on the link below and filling out the form. Availability will continue to expand on these platforms, with additional AI platforms added in the coming months.

Sign up for early access