PhonePe Continued To Dominate UPI Landscape In December 2024

Fintech major PhonePe continued its dominance over the Indian digital payments ecosystem as it clocked 798.4 Cr transactions in December 2024, up 7.8% from 740.1 Cr transactions in November 2024.

The Walmart-owned digital payments platform reported transactions worth INR 11.76 Lakh Cr last month compared to INR 10.88 Lakh Cr in the preceding month. PhonePe accounted for half of the total transaction value and more than 47% of the total number of UPI transactions in December.

Following its lead was Google Pay, which clinched 37.22% market share in terms of UPI transactions in December. The fintech platform recorded 614 Cr transactions during the month under review as against 573 Cr in November 2024. 

Paytm continued to be the third largest UPI app. However, the listed fintech major’s market share dwindled to 6.97% in December from 7.03% in the previous month. Paytm recorded a marginal increase in its transactions to 115 Cr during the month under review as against 107 Cr in November.

Meanwhile, Sachin Bansal-led Navi continued to gain traction, with its market share rising to 1.02% from 1% previously. It recorded around 20.25 Cr transactions last month versus 15.2 Cr in November. 

Overall, UPI transactions reached a new monthly high of 1,673 Cr in December 2024, up 8.08% from 1,548 Cr transactions in the preceding month. As per the National Payment Corporation Of India (NPCI) data, the value of these transactions was worth INR 23.25 Lakh Cr, a growth of 7.9% from INR 21.55 Lakh Cr in November.

The surge in transactions came as authorities continue to give impetus to the Indian fintech sector, especially the UPI ecosystem. In December, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the wallet limit for UPI Lite to INR 5,000 from INR 2,000 previously. 

The central bank also increased the offline transaction limit for UPI Lite service to INR 1,000 per transaction from INR 500 previously. 

The central bank also allowed small finance banks (SFBs) to offer pre-sanctioned credit lines through UPI. This move aims to  support underserved groups, including small businesses, micro-entrepreneurs and individuals in rural and semi-urban regions.

Last month, RBI also announced that Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) with full KYC will now be able to make UPI payments through third-party apps.