UPI transactions up 118% in semi-urban, rural retail stores in 2023: Study

UPI is a driving force in the overall growth of digital payments in India, says government separately

United Payments Interface (UPI) transactions at retail stores in rural and semi-urban India rose 118 per cent in 2023 from last year, said a report on Wednesday, marking the increasing adoption of online payments in Tier-II cities. By value, the transactions were up 106 per cent.

The acceptance of Mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) increased 5 per cent in 2023, said the report titled 'Retail-O-Nomics' by fintech firm PayNearby. It surveyed more than a million shops between January and November.

"The [UPI] transactions include not only banking and financial services, but also digital services like utility payment, cash collection, credit, insurance, assisted commerce and more, indicating a significant behavioural shift among consumers in these regions towards assisted digital methods for their banking and lifestyle needs, contributing to their integration into the formal economy," it said.

On December 18, the government told the Parliament that UPI is a driving force in the overall growth of digital payments in India. UPI transactions have grown from 92 crore in 2017-18 to 8,375 crore in 2022-23 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 147 per cent in terms of volume, Lok Sabha was told.

Owing to this, banknote circulation fell 7.8 per cent in 2022-23, said the government. UPI has achieved 85.72 billion transactions during the current financial year till December 11, 2023.

"UPI has been the major driving force in the overall growth of digital payment transactions in the country accounting for 62 per cent of digital payment transactions in 2022-23. The Year-on-Year growth in the value of banknotes in circulation has decreased from 9.9 per cent in 2021-22 to 7.8 per cent in 2022-23," said Bhagwat K Karad, minister of state for finance, in a written reply.