India clocks 10 billion UPI transactions for the first time in a month

India made history in August with its instant payment system Unified Payment Interface (UPI) crossing 10 billion transactions in volume for the first time in a month.

Based on data available until August 30, released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the transaction volume reached 10.241 billion. In terms of value as well, UPI transactions are poised to reach a new high, having already reached Rs 15.18 trillion, within striking distance of the previous high of Rs 15.34 trillion, which was recorded in July of this year.

"At 10 billion, there is still a lot of room for UPI transactions to grow. The data shows that UPI peer-to-merchant (P2M) transactions are growing at a pace of over 100 per cent on a year-on-year basis and have a higher share than peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. Over time, P2M transactions will drive UPI transactions growth and it will be no surprise if UPI transactions hit 20 billion a month in 18-24 months," said Sunil Rongala, senior vice president, head of strategy, innovation and analytics at Worldline India.

In August 2023, the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions were seen at 473 million until August 30 with a value of Rs 4.93 trillion. This is compared to 490 million in July and 468.1 million in June in terms of volume. In value terms, this was Rs 5.12 trillion in July, up from Rs 5 trillion in June, up 2.4 per cent.