With 6b transactions, UPI has become the face of cashless movement in India

By Puja Sharma

UPI (Unified Payments Interface) logged more than 6 billion transactions in July this year, the most since the platform’s inception in 2016.

As the result of 6.28 billion transactions totaling Rs 10.62 trillion, UPI reported a total of 6.28 billion transactions, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Transactions volume and value increased by 7.16% and 4.76% month-over-month, respectively. The number of transactions nearly doubled while the value of transactions increased 75% year-over-year (YoY).

In FY22, 60% of volumes of India’s retail payments came from UPI which will further lead to greater digital adoption for payments and financial services. The last month has been an interesting phase for the merchant and financial space, the transactions nearly doubled. Crossing the 5 billion transaction mark before the conclusion of the fiscal year has been a watershed moment in UPI payments history.

Mr. Mandar Agashe, Founder and MD of Sarvatra Technologies, a leading end-to-end payments, and banking technology solutions provider in India, said, “This is a positive sign of economic recovery following the pandemic’s severe crisis. The government’s ongoing push has resulted in greater adoption of UPI and individuals have become accustomed to transacting digitally. The main objective of UPI is to simplify digital payments and make them accessible for everyone, with UPI transactions crossing the 6 billion mark, it testifies that it has been successful in doing so.

Unified Payments Interface has become the face of the cashless movement in the country. It has enabled customers across a variety of use cases, from subscribing for an IPO to making recurring payments. Even during the lockdown, with the cash-on-delivery option on hold due to the “No Contact Delivery” parameters, it was the next best option to make payments and buy essentials online. Its determination to provide a safe, rapid, open, and real-time muti-bank payment system is assisting India in becoming a top destination for digital payments platforms.

“I believe in the next 5 years, UPI will see a 10X growth. Initiatives such as UPI 123 service, which works fully offline, UPI Lite, a cardless cash withdrawal facility at ATMs through UPI, and it is linked to credit cards among others will aid in building multiple new use-cases. This will significantly help in democratising digital payments across varied sections of the population alike.” Agashe added.

UPI transactions reaching 628 crore transactions in July 2022 is evidence of the popularity of UPI and is a preferred mode of payments by an increasing number of consumers. The growth in UPI volumes by almost 100% YoY and amounts transacted growing by 75% YoY is just the tip of the iceberg.

“With the acceptance of card payments via UPI the transaction volumes are bound to grow strongly and the average value per transaction too will increase.  Through this growth, the NPCI systems have been robust and have rendered uptime that stands along the best in the payments industry. NPCI is on track to achieve their vision of 1 billion transactions per day.” Rajesh Mirjankar, MD & CEO, Kiya.ai, a firm that helps businesses transform through its range of advanced digital solutions and new-age technologies said.

The secure and user-friendly interface along with the growing internet penetration across the country are the key factors that have heavily contributed to the success of UPI in India. The fact that it works on a simple internet connection also gives an impetus to the digital revolution happening in India at the moment connecting our country at a speed never known before. This has also helped in financially empowering rural India and bridging the urban-rural divide.

Dilip Modi, Founder, of Spice Money a rural FinTech revolutionising the way Bharat Banks, said, “I have always been a strong believer in the power of technology and its potential to transform people’s lives. It’s elating to see the rising adoption and success of UPI in India which wouldn’t have been possible without the government’s vision and support to create a digital economy and drive financial inclusion for the last mile. The positive response received for digital financial interventions from people living across the length and breadth of our country has further helped in achieving this goal.

” The acceptance of UPI in countries like Singapore, Bhutan, UAE, and Nepal is a testimony of NPCI’s success with UPI. We at Spice Money are honored to be a part of this journey of financial inclusion with a secure and easy-to-use payment system.” Modi added.