Digital payments spike, but cash circulation still high, shows data

The burgeoning volumes of unified payments interface (UPI) prove that the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital payments in the country multi-fold in the last two years. This is reflected in the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) digital payment index, which has shot up to 304.06 as of September 2021 from 207.84 as of March 2020.

UPI has been the biggest beneficiary of the digital payments drive. In FY22 so far, UPI has processed a little over 40.49 billion transactions worth ~74.51 trillion. This is almost double the number of transactions (in volume terms) in FY21. Data suggests that all mobile payments have seen exponential rise in the last two years. And, cash withdrawal at ATMs have more or less remained stagnant in the same period. The country has seen almost 22 per cent growth in outstanding number of credit cards, 14 per cent growth in debit cards, and 42 per cent growth in the number of wallets.