Experience Commerce wins social media mandate for FiatPe

Introduction

India's fintech landscape is crowded, competitive, and growing at a pace that leaves little room for brands that cannot communicate clearly and consistently. In a market where trust is the ultimate currency, how a fintech brand shows up on social media can be the difference between merchant acquisition and merchant indifference.

FiatPe, a digital payments platform built around India's merchant ecosystem, has taken a decisive step in that direction. The company has awarded its annual social media mandate to Experience Commerce, a full-service digital marketing agency and part of the Cheil SWA Group, following a competitive multi-agency pitch.

For brand watchers and marketing professionals tracking India's fintech sector, this partnership is worth examining closely. It speaks to how emerging payment platforms are thinking about brand building — and why social media strategy is now a core business function, not an afterthought.

The big announcement

Experience Commerce has secured the annual social media mandate for Fiat Payments Private Limited, better known as FiatPe, after emerging victorious from a multi-agency pitch involving several reputed agencies.

Launched in 2022, FiatPe is a digital payments platform designed to support India's Digital India movement. The platform provides payment infrastructure that simplifies how merchants and businesses transact across both online and offline ecosystems, with a clear focus on merchant-first, reliability-driven solutions.

As part of the engagement, Experience Commerce will manage FiatPe's social media presence across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. The mandate covers strategic social media planning, content-led campaigns, and page growth initiatives. The agency will leverage platform-native formats including Instagram Reels and Guides to maximise reach, engagement, and organic discovery.

The collaboration will concentrate on strengthening FiatPe's digital visibility across key urban markets including Nagpur, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, while simultaneously supporting the brand's expansion into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities — markets that represent India's next wave of digital payment adoption. Experience Commerce will work to reinforce FiatPe's positioning around reliability, trust, and long-term value for offline merchants, corporate entities, and e-commerce businesses.

What this means for your brand

This mandate win carries several important signals for Indian brands and marketers operating in the fintech and digital payments space.

First, it confirms that even infrastructure-led fintech platforms — those focused on the back-end plumbing of payments rather than consumer-facing flashiness — now recognise the critical importance of a strong, consistent social media presence. FiatPe's merchant-first positioning requires a very specific kind of content strategy: one that builds trust, communicates reliability, and speaks directly to the practical concerns of small and mid-size business owners. That is a significantly harder brief than a typical consumer brand social mandate, and it demands genuine strategic thinking.

Second, the decision to appoint an agency through a competitive multi-agency pitch reflects growing sophistication among Indian fintech brands. Gone are the days when social media was handed to the most affordable vendor. Today, fintech CMOs are evaluating agencies on creative thinking, platform expertise, and strategic alignment — exactly the criteria Atish Bhatia, CMO of FiatPe, cited in his comments on the appointment.

For Indian brands eyeing Tier 2 and Tier 3 expansion, this partnership also offers a useful playbook. Digital presence in these markets must be built differently — with content that feels local, trustworthy, and relevant to merchants who may be new to digital payment infrastructure. Experience Commerce's mandate to support FiatPe's geographic expansion while maintaining brand consistency is a challenge that many growing Indian brands will recognise.

Expert take

India's digital payments market is on a remarkable growth trajectory. According to a 2025 report by the Reserve Bank of India, UPI-based transactions alone crossed 17,000 crore in volume during the financial year, reflecting how deeply digital payments have embedded themselves into everyday commerce.

Yet for platforms like FiatPe that serve merchants rather than end consumers, brand visibility remains an underinvested area. Most merchant-focused fintech companies have historically relied on direct sales and word-of-mouth. Social media, with its ability to build credibility, showcase use cases, and drive organic discovery, is rapidly becoming the missing piece in their growth strategy.

Bhawana Daga, Vice President — Growth at Experience Commerce, articulated this shift clearly, noting that fintech today demands trust, clarity, and strong brand storytelling beyond simple product communication. That insight reflects where the most forward-thinking fintech brands are already headed.

The brands.in perspective

Experience Commerce winning this mandate is a reminder that fintech is no longer just a product category — it is a brand category. The most successful payment platforms of the next decade will not just offer superior technology. They will build communities of merchants who trust them, advocate for them, and grow with them. FiatPe's decision to invest seriously in social media storytelling at this stage of its growth journey is exactly the right call. Brands that build trust digitally before they need it will always outperform those that try to buy it when they do. This partnership has the potential to be a blueprint for how India's merchant-focused fintechs approach brand building going forward.

Key takeaways for marketers

• Experience Commerce wins FiatPe's annual social media mandate following a competitive multi-agency pitch
• The mandate covers Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube with a focus on content-led campaigns and page growth
• FiatPe is a merchant-first digital payments platform launched in 2022 under India's Digital India framework
• The partnership targets key urban markets and supports expansion into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities across India
• The appointment signals growing maturity among Indian fintech brands in how they approach social media strategy

Frequently asked questions

What is FiatPe and what does it do? FiatPe is a digital payments platform launched in 2022, designed to support India's Digital India movement. It provides merchant-first payment infrastructure that simplifies transactions for businesses operating across both online and offline ecosystems.

What does Experience Commerce's mandate for FiatPe include? The mandate covers strategic social media planning, content-led campaigns, and page growth initiatives across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube, using platform-native formats like Instagram Reels and Guides to drive reach and engagement.

Why is this mandate win significant for Experience Commerce? It strengthens Experience Commerce's growing fintech portfolio and demonstrates the agency's capability to handle complex, trust-driven brand narratives for merchant-focused platforms — a distinct and demanding category within India's broader digital marketing landscape.

Stay ahead of the curve

India's fintech sector is producing some of the most interesting brand-building challenges in marketing today — and the agencies and brands that crack the code on merchant trust will define the next chapter of digital payments growth.

Are you tracking how India's emerging fintech platforms are approaching social media and brand strategy? Follow brands.in for daily brand intelligence, agency news, and the marketing insights that keep you one step ahead. What do you think is the biggest challenge for merchant-focused fintech brands building a social media presence in India? Share your thoughts in the comments below.