UPI ends 2025 strong with record 21.63 bn transactions worth ₹27.97 trn

India's UPI processed a record 21.63 billion transactions worth ₹27.97 trillion in December, helping the platform close 2025 with its strongest-ever annual volumes and values

India’s flagship digital payments platform, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), ended 2025 on a strong note, recording its highest-ever transaction volumes and values. UPI processed 21.63 billion transactions worth ₹27.97 trillion in December, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). On a year-on-year basis, transaction volumes and values rose 29 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively. On a month-on-month basis, volumes increased 5.66 per cent, while values rose 6.26 per cent.

 

Why did UPI see a December rebound? 

UPI transactions had peaked at 20.7 billion worth ₹27.28 trillion in October, driven by festive-season spending. Transaction volumes and values eased in November as festive demand tapered off, but rebounded in December amid holiday-season spending.

 

How did UPI perform in calendar year 2025? 

In calendar year 2025, UPI recorded over 228 billion transactions worth nearly ₹300 trillion, up 32.5 per cent year on year in volumes and 21 per cent year on year in value from 2024. In 2024, UPI recorded 172.2 billion transactions worth ₹246.8 trillion, while in 2023 it logged 117.6 billion transactions valued at ₹182.9 trillion.

 

What is the key challenge for UPI going ahead? 

While UPI continues to post strong growth in transaction volumes and values, the key challenge ahead will be scaling usage further by expanding adoption beyond the current cohort of daily users to a wider segment of the population.

 

What new features is NPCI rolling out to boost adoption? 

NPCI has been rolling out new features such as UPI Circle, UPI Lite, credit cards on UPI, and credit lines on UPI to expand adoption beyond the traditional user base. Among these, credit on UPI is seen as the biggest bet and could significantly boost transaction volumes once it gains wider traction.

 

What role will credit on UPI play? 

According to Worldline’s outlook for India’s payments ecosystem, credit on UPI is likely to witness mass adoption, enabling small-ticket credit, EMIs, and pre-approved credit lines through familiar UPI journeys. Semi-urban centres and smaller towns are expected to lead the next phase of digital expansion, driven by rapid QR adoption among kirana stores, pharmacies, and local service providers, it said.

 

How is India pushing UPI’s global expansion? 

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India is pursuing measures to expand the global acceptance of Indian payment instruments. These include enabling QR-based UPI acceptance for cross-border merchant payments, interlinking UPI with fast payment systems in other countries to facilitate cross-border remittances, and offering the deployment of UPI and RuPay technology stacks to help other nations build their own fast payment systems and domestic card schemes.

 

The Indian government is in talks with at least seven to eight additional countries to expand UPI’s footprint overseas, allowing Indians travelling abroad to use the platform for payments. Currently, UPI services are available in Singapore, the UAE, France, Nepal, Bhutan, Mauritius, and Sri Lanka. The immediate focus is on expanding coverage in the Middle East and East Asia, regions with large Indian diaspora populations, before extending to Europe. NPCI International Payments Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of NPCI, is responsible for deploying home-grown payment systems such as UPI and the RuPay card scheme globally.