Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has become an integral part of one’s life and has made people’s life much easier by giving them the power of digitisation and avoiding the need of keeping cash. Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest, NPCI’s MD Dilip Asbe said that UPI will soon touch 100 billion transactions in a month. India’s digital payment landscape witnessed a historic milestone in August 2023 with UPI transactions crossing the phenomenal mark of 10 billion transactions in a month.
Asbe added that currently UPI is used by 350 million people and the objective is make UPI used by every Indian. “We have a 3x opportunity on the user side and a 3x opportunity on the merchant side. I see a total growth opportunity of 10x for UPI,” he said.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the driving force behind this transformative system, has unveiled this astonishing number of 10 billion UPI transactions in a month marking a new era in the country’s financial realm. Being an innovative and revolutionary system facilitating instant money transfer through the ubiquitous mobile phone, UPI has demonstrated its prowess by achieving a milestone that was once deemed unattainable.
UPI’s impressive growth
As per the data released, this soaring transaction volume was recorded at an impressive 10.58 billion, as of August 2023, registering a growth of 61% YoY. The sheer magnitude of this achievement becomes even more evident when considering the monetary value associated with these transactions that reached an exceptional ₹15.76 lakh crore, growing 47% on yearly basis.
Notably, the transaction count in the month of July 2023 was at 9.96 billion with the transaction amount of ₹15.34 lakh crore. Similarly, in June 2023, the transaction amount stood at 9.34 billion with ₹14.75 lakh crore transaction amount.
A game-changing innovation
Since its launch in 2016, UPI has revolutionised the way people transact. With UPI, users can link their bank accounts to a payments app and facilitate both peer-to-peer (P2P) and peer-to-merchant (P2M) transactions. This means that in a few easy steps, payments can be made to another person or to a merchant absolutely free of cost!
Offering an easy and convenient mode of payment, it has now also become a global benchmark for digital payment systems. The convenience, security, and speed offered by UPI quickly is making waves world over. India has shared its UPI technology with many countries like France, Australia, Singapore, UAE, Nepal, Bhutan, and more.
To make UPI more accessible, several innovations have also been made to it. For seamless small-value transactions, NPCI launched UPI Lite, an on-device wallet, earlier this year. With UPI Lite, payments up to ₹200 can be made with a single-click.
The use cases for UPI have been increased with the integration of UPI with RuPay credit cards. With the help of this, users can simply ‘scan and pay’ using their RuPay credit cards through UPI, enhancing the interoperability of different payment modes.
RBI playing a pivotal role in shaping UPI
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continues to play a pivotal role in shaping the UPI landscape. In its recent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, the apex bank announced an increase in transaction limit for UPI Lite from ₹200 to ₹500. The announcement has been made with the objective of harnessing new technologies for enhancing the digital payments experience for users.
RBI has also announced “Conversational Payments” on UPI, which will enable users to engage in conversation with AI-powered systems to make payments. “These initiatives will further deepen the reach and use of digital payments in the country,” RBI added.
UPI empowering millions
UPI has not only transformed the payments landscape in India but has also shown how a well-designed digital payment system can revolutionize an economy. Digital payments has become more inclusive and versatile with the help of UPI and its innovations. With the increasing transactional count and amount UPI reveals its prowess as an instant payment system, enabling users to seamlessly and instantaneously transfer funds to any bank account.
The convenience, ease of usage and trust on UPI have played a pivotal role in its acceptance and adoption across various sectors, among individuals and businesses of all sizes. It will also play a vital role in shaping the future of digital payments globally.