UPI transactions up 3% in August to 20 bn as festive demand lifts usage

Festive season demand lifted UPI volumes in August, while IMPS declined; FASTag and AePS posted strong gains, reflecting India's deepening digital payments adoption

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions soared past 20.01 billion-mark with a 3 per cent rise from 19.47 billion registered in July, reflecting increased economic activity some of which can be attributed to the onset of festival season.

 

However, in terms of value, transactions were down marginally by 1 per cent to ₹24.85 trillion during the month versus ₹ 25.08 trillion in July, said the National Payments Corporation of India on Monday.

 

As many as 18.4 billion transactions worth ₹24.04 trillion took place in June.

 

“The beginning of the festival season and increase in consumption reflect in the growth of UPI volumes over July. The drive and penetration of UPI as the primary digital payment option continue to drive adoption and continuous overall growth,” said Ramakrishnan Ramamurthy, chief delivery and operations officer India, Worldline.

 

During the month under review, daily transactions increased to 645 million against 628 million in July. In value terms, this came down to ₹80,177 crore compared to ₹80,919 crore last month. August UPI numbers were 34 per cent up in volume and 21 per cent in value compared to the same time last year.

 

Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) for the month was down 6 per cent to ₹5.98 trillion as against ₹6.31 trillion in July. In volume too, it witnessed a 2 per cent decline to 477 million in August as against 488 million the previous month. The number of daily transactions dipped from 15.55 million to 15.50 million, leading to a 5 per cent dip in daily value to ₹19,276 crore.

 

FASTag transactions in August also moved up by 3 per cent to 382 million against 371 million in July. This resulted in a rise in value also to ₹7,053 crore in August, up 6 per cent against ₹6,669 crore in July. The number of daily transactions also increased from 11.95 million to 12.32 million, with a value of ₹228 crore in August. In July, the value of daily transactions was seen at ₹215 crore.

 

In August, Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) transactions stood at 128.17 million, up 24 per cent compared to 103 million in July. The value of transactions was ₹32,329 crore against ₹26,585 crore last month, posting a 22 per cent increase.