UPI transactions cross Rs 20 trillion for third successive month, in July 2024

Payments made via Unified Payments Interface (UPI) reported a 45% yearly growth, according to data from the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI).

The value of transactions also saw a growth of over 35%, totaling Rs 20.64 trillion. This marks the third consecutive month when total transactions exceeded Rs 20 trillion. In June 2024, the total UPI transaction value was Rs 20.07 trillion, while in May it was Rs 20.44 trillion.

NPCI data also showed that the average daily transaction value through UPI in July 2024 was Rs 466 million, or about Rs 66,590 crore. Compared with June, the volume of UPI transactions grew by 3.95% in July, while the value of transactions increased by 2.84%.

In the first four months of the current fiscal year (2024-25), UPI recorded transactions amounting to Rs 80.79 trillion, across approximately 55.66 billion transactions. In 2023-24, total UPI transactions were 131 billion, compared to 84 billion in 2022-23.

The monthly bulletin of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reported that over the last four years, UPI transactions have seen a ten-fold increase in volume, from 12.5 billion transactions in 2019-20 to 131 billion transactions in 2023-24, which accounts for 80% of the total digital payment volumes.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions experienced substantial growth, increasing by 57% year-on-year in FY24. Within this segment, PhonePe and Google Pay dominated, holding a combined market share of 86%, according to the Boston Consulting Group's (BCG) Banking Sector Roundup for 2023-24.

A shift in digital payments was noted, with credit card transactions doubling over the past three years. In contrast, debit card transactions declined by 43% year-on-year.

By making digital payment platform technology and device agnostic, UPI has contributed to financial inclusion at the grassroots level. Digital payments in India are hitting fresh highs, as citizens increasingly adopt emerging modes of online transactions. One key emphasis of the Indian government has been to ensure that the benefits of UPI are not limited to India alone; other countries, too, can benefit from it.

UPI is India's mobile-based fast payment system, which facilitates customers to make round-the-clock payments instantly using a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) created by the customer. The share of UPI in digital payments in India has reached close to 80% in 2023. Today, India accounts for nearly 46% of the world's digital transactions, based on 2022 data.