UPI volumes dip in February on fewer days even as daily averages rise

UPI transactions fell month-on-month in February due to the shorter month, but daily volumes and values increased, reflecting steady digital payment adoption across channels

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions in February fell 6 per cent in volume to 20.39 billion and 5 per cent in value to ₹26.84 trillion compared with January. This is mainly owing to the lower number of days in February.

 

In January, the figures stood at 21.70 billion transactions (volume) and ₹28.33 trillion (value). 

In February, daily transactions increased to 728 million with a value of ₹95,865 crore against 700 million and ₹91,403 crore in January. 

“While there is a marginal moderation month-on-month (M-o-M), the consistency at this scale signals structural permanence. 

UPI is no longer a growth story; it is now core infrastructure. As UPI accounts for nearly half of global real-time transactions, the conversation is shifting from access to optimisation. The next phase of evolution will be defined by reliability at scale, seamless merchant adoption of new capabilities, and innovation-led use cases,” said Akash Sinha, cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO), Cashfree Payments.

 

 

In December, the figures stood at 21.63 billion (volume) and ₹27.97 trillion (value), respectively.

 

On an annual basis, UPI transactions were up by 27 per cent in volume and 22 per cent in value from February 2025.

 

“The consistent growth in volume highlights that digital payments are now a deeply-embedded habit for consumers and merchants alike. Adoption continues to expand beyond metros, with smaller cities and neighborhood retailers driving the next phase of growth,” said Anand Kumar Bajaj, founder, PayNearby.

 

Immediate Payment Services (IMPS) for February was down 10 per cent to 336 million transactions (volume) against 374 million in January. In value, it declined by 4 per cent to ₹6.42 trillion in February against ₹6.73 trillion in January.

 

In December, this was 380 million with a value of ₹6.62 trillion.

 

The number of daily transactions in IMPS dipped from 12.07 million in January to 12 million in February. However, daily value increased from ₹21,709 crore in January to ₹22,946 crore in February.

 

FASTag transactions in February were down 6 per cent to 350 million from 373 million last month. Its value also declined 4 per cent to ₹6,925 crore against ₹7,232 crore in January.

 

In December, it was 384 million and ₹7,385 crore respectively. However, average daily transactions increased to 12.52 million from 12.05 million last month, as value also zoomed to ₹247 crore from ₹233 crore.

 

In February, Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) transactions stood at 90 million, down 9 per cent from 99 million in the previous month. Value also dipped to ₹25,762 crore from ₹25,907 crore in January. The number of daily transactions rose from 3.18 million to 320 million, resulting in a value spike to ₹920 crore versus ₹836 crore last month.