Retail payment products reducing cash dependency: Worldline

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) recorded a substantial transaction volume of 1,080 crore in 2019, marking a year-on-year increase of 188 per cent, according to a new report by European payment services provider Worldline.

In terms of value, UPI facilitated transactions worth Rs 18.36 lakh crore, up 214 per cent from 2018. It is the fastest product to hit one billion transactions a month in 2019 since its inception in August 2016, said Worldline.

On the other hand, the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) continued its strong growth last year and recorded 55 per cent year-on-year increase by facilitating about 230 crore transactions in volume. It clocked Rs 21.8 lakh crore in terms of value, up 41 per cent from 2018.

The National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) transactions volume in 2019 stood at 37 crore, documenting a jump of 162 per cent over the previous year whereas its transactions value recorded a year-on-year increase of 57 per cent with Rs 8,060 crore.

In 2019, transactions volume passing through the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU)-NPCI stood at 12.5 crore, an increase of 133 per cent while its transactions value was Rs 18,680 crore, up 174 per cent.

The total volume of Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS) transactions in 2019 stood at 230 crore, achieving a year-on-year growth of 12 per cent. The value of transactions achieved a milestone of Rs one lakh crore in 2019 with a growth of 31 per cent.

"It is evident that payment systems in India have witnessed significant progress in the previous year and more importantly in the last decade," said Deepak Chandnani, Managing Director of Worldline South Asia and the Middle East.

Favourable factors like affordable mobile phones, internet packages and constant support from the regulator as well as the government have unquestionably contributed to this growth.

"But the real credit goes to fintechs and banks which are constantly implementing new technologies and delivering customer-centric solutions," he said.

"We can now anticipate that these retail payment products will collectively reduce cash dependency to a great extent provided there is an impetus to set up multiple acquiring touchpoints in the country," said Chandnani.

The number of point of sale (POS) terminals deployed by merchant acquiring banks increased to 49.8 lakh in December 2019 from 35.9 lakh in December 2018, registering an increase of 39 per cent.

According to the report, total number of cards in circulation stood at 86 crore million as of December 2019. Credit cards accounted for 30 per cent transactions in terms of volume and 51 per cent in terms of value.

The transaction value of debit cards stood at Rs 6.8 lakh while transaction value of credit cards stood at Rs 7.1 lakh crore, registering a growth of 21 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.