Record UPI Transaction Growth: March Volume Approaches INR 20 Lakh Cr

The UPI ecosystem in India continues to witness robust growth, driven by technological innovations, government support, and partnerships both domestically and internationally.

• UPI Transaction Growth:

  • Transactions on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) rose 11% month-on-month (MoM) to 13.44 billion in March 2024 from 12.10 billion.

  • On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the transaction count surged 55% from 8.7 billion.

• Transaction Volume:

  • As per the National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI’s) data, the transaction volume in March stood at INR 19.78 lakh crore, up 8% from February’s INR 18.28 lakh crore.

  • It also zoomed 40% from INR 14.1 lakh crore in the year-ago month.

• India's Global Digital Transactions Share:

  • Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das mentioned that India accounts for nearly 46% of the world’s digital transactions.

  • He attributed this jump to the increase in adoption of UPI, with its share in digital payments reaching close to 80% in 2023.

• NPCI Initiatives:

  • NPCI has taken steps to promote UPI, adding new features and launching services to increase adoption.

  • Innovations like UPI Lite, credit lines on UPI, UPI LITE X, Tap & Pay, Hello! UPI, and BillPay Connect have been introduced over the years.

• Future Plans:

  • NPCI is planning to introduce a new service for an interoperable payment system for net banking through NPCI Bharat Billpay (NBBL), facilitating quicker settlement of funds for merchants.

  • Agreements with multiple countries, including Nepal, France, Sri Lanka, Singapore, UAE, have been made to take UPI global.

• Market Dominance:

  • PhonePe and Google Pay dominate the UPI landscape in India, commanding over 80% share in 2023.

  • Transaction numbers for March 2024 are yet to be released, but these entities remain prominent players.

• International Expansion:

  • PhonePe announced its users can make digital payments in the UAE at Mashreq Bank’s NEOPAY terminals, indicating an expansion beyond India's borders.