New Delhi, May 1 -- Global payments network Visa is stepping up its push for merchant acceptance in India as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) cements its lead in everyday digital payments, a top Visa India executive told Mint. The company is betting that cheaper acceptance tools, card-based subscriptions, and a broader set of payment choices can help it win share among both small and large merchants.

Ramakrishnan Gopalan, chief product officer, India and South Asia at Visa, said the company's first pitch to merchants is built around consumer choice. He added that merchants should not be offering customers only one payment option in a market that still has a large card base.

"Cards should remain part of the payment mix as it tends to...