Mumbai:
The share of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in India’s digital payments has surged from 34 per cent in 2019 to an impressive 83 per cent in 2024, with a remarkable CAGR (cumulative average growth rate) of 74 per cent over the last five years, according the RBI’s payment system report.
In contrast, share of other payment systems like RTGS, NEFT, IMPS, credit cards, debit cards, etc. in digital payments volume declined from 66 per cent to 17 per cent during the same period, the report states.
UPI has been the most significant contributor to the growth of digital payments in India due to its usefulness and ease of use, the report points out.
At a macro level, the volume of UPI transactions increased from 375 crore in 2018 to 17,221 crore in 2024, whereas the total value of transactions surged from ₹5.86 lakh crore in 2018 to ₹246.83 lakh crore in 2024.
This amounts to five year CAGR of 89.3 per cent and 86.5 per cent in terms of volume and value, respectively, the report states.
Both P2P (person-to-person) and P2M (person-to-merchant) transactions leverage UPI’s secure and real-time payment capabilities, making it easier for individuals and businesses to execute financial transactions without relying on traditional, time-consuming methods.
The UPI P2M transaction volume has surpassed the UPI P2P transaction volumes since 2023, however, in value terms, the UPI P2P transaction value is still higher than UPI P2M transaction values.
Over the past few years, digital payments in India have witnessed a phenomenal growth buoyed by the spectacular progress of UPI and the plethora of digital payment options available. In 2024 alone, India recorded 208.5 billion digital payment transactions.
UPI P2M grew at a CAGR of 99 per cent for transaction values below Rs 500 over 2019-24. In contrast, UPI P2P grew at a CAGR of 56 per cent during the same period.
For higher ticket-sized transactions — those exceeding Rs 2,000 — UPI P2M grew at a CAGR of 109 per cent during the same five-year period, while UPI P2P recorded a CAGR of 57 per cent.
The National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) low-value transaction payment method, UPI Lite, recorded 2.04 million transactions daily, valued at Rs 20.02 crore in December 2024.
“When Paytm and PhonePe introduced UPI Lite on February 15, 2023, and May 2, 2023, respectively, a sustained increase in UPI Lite payment volumes and values was observed,” the RBI report observes.
“UPI has propelled India to the forefront in the provision of digital payment solutions as ‘public good’. This public good approach has the potential to be adopted by other economies, whatever stage of development they are at. UPI and its features bear lessons on democratisation of the payment system to the smallest value and penetration of digital payments to previously unreached segments,” the report added.
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