UPI transactions touch 1,141 crore mark for third consecutive month in October

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed 1,141 crore transactions in October worth Rs 17.16 lakh crore, data shared by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) showed. With this, UPI transactions crossed the 1,000 crore transaction threshold for the third consecutive month. This is 8 per cent higher in volume and an 8.6 per cent hike in value when compared with September.

In September, UPI recorded 1,056 crore transactions worth Rs 15.8 Lakh crore. In August, UPI reported 1,024 crore transactions during the month and the transaction value stood at Rs 15.18 lakh crore. In July, UPI platform had seen 996 crore transactions.

 

 

"UPI value and volumes are at their peak on account of increased digital adoption at two levels - merchants and customers. The adoption has increased on account of the higher penetration by different UPI-based third-party payment apps that have continually adding new customers. The rewards and incentives programs offered by the third-party UPI-based payment apps also entice existing customers to route more transactions through UPI," said Vivek Iyer, Partner, Grant Thornton Bhara.

NPCI data showed that there were 49.3 crore transactions under Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), with a total value of Rs 5.38 lakh crore.

In September, there were 47.3 crore IMPS transactions, totaling Rs 5.07 lakh crore in value, whereas in August, 48.9 crore IMPS transactions were reported, with a transaction amount of Rs 5.14 lakh crore.

The Fasttag transactions increased to 320 million, as against 299 million in September. On the other hand, the value of such transactions in October was seen at Rs 5,539 crore, up 9 per cent compared to Rs 5,089 crore in September, which is 24 per cent higher in value and 13 per cent higher in volume.

In October, Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) were marginally down in volume. There was a dip of 1 per cent at 100 million versus 101 million in September. In value terms too, this was marginally down at Rs 25,973 crore in comparison to Rs 25,984 crore in September 2023. It was 107 million and Rs 27,500 crore respectively, in August this year.

"UPI has consistently achieved remarkable milestones in terms of transaction volume. Each month, UPI surpasses its previous records, attributed to the continuous introduction of new features and use-cases by RBI and NPCI, aimed at promoting digital transactions. There has been a notable increase in transactions during October, particularly due to the festive season. This surge is attributed to heightened consumer engagement, especially in the e-commerce sector. Consumers are increasingly opting for UPI payments due to the unparalleled convenience and security it offers," said Mandar Agashe, Founder & MD, Sarvatra Technologies Ltd.

In FY23, the UPI platform processed a total of 8,376 crore transactions aggregating Rs 139 lakh crore, compared with 4,597 crore transactions worth Rs 84 lakh crore in FY22.

NPCI is targeting around 30 billion transactions a month or one billion transactions a day within the next two to three years. A report by PwC India stated that UPI transactions are expected to breach 100 crore transactions per day by FY27, which projects UPI to dominate the retail digital payments landscape, accounting for 90 per cent of total transaction volumes over the next five years.

In the last few months, the RBI has added a series of measures to the UPI ecosystem. In September, NPCI launched a host of innovative features for UPI, such as instant credit via UPI, UPI Lite X for Offline Payments, Tap and Pay, and Hello UPI.