UPI Sets New Record With 1,000 Cr Monthly Transactions In August 2023

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed more than 1,000 Cr monthly transactions in August 2023 for the first time in its seven-year history.

“Drumroll please! UPI has just shattered records with an astonishing 10 Bn plus transactions. Join us in celebrating this incredible milestone and the power of digital payments. Let’s keep the momentum going and continue to revolutionize the way we make transactions with UPI!,” the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said in a tweet. 

UPI logged 1,024.1 Cr transactions worth INR 15.18 Lakh Cr till August 30 banking on the second consecutive month of growth in numbers. Month-on-Month (MoM), transaction count rose 2.8% from 996 Cr while transaction value declined around 1% from INR 15.34 Lakh Cr in July 2023. 

However, the number of transactions and value is expected to go further up with one day remaining for the current month. 

UPI also logged a 55% year-on-year (YoY) growth rate in terms of transaction count, jumping from 658 Cr in August 2022. On the other hand, transaction value soared more than 41% in August 2023 from INR 10.73 Lakh Cr in the year-ago period. 

The numbers are testament to the growing popularity of UPI as a digital payments tool. From crossing the 100 Cr monthly transaction mark in October 2019, the platform has scaled 10X in a span of just four years. Meanwhile, NPCI has set its eyes on growing the platform to accommodate 100 Cr transactions on a daily basis.

The payments corporation is yet to disclose the app-wise data of the UPI transactions for the month of August 2023. PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm are likely expected to continue their dominance over the digital payments system.

In July, the three players together accounted for 95% of the total transaction count on the UPI network. 

Curiously, UPI also somewhat bucked the general trend of slowing MoM growth every alternate month. Building on the positive growth in July, the platform yet again clocked hefty growth in terms of count but recorded negative MoM growth in value. Despite this, UPI continues to see widespread adoption amid a major push from the government. 

Just days ago, it was reported that India was in talks with New Zealand to introduce the payments system in the Pacific country to improve trade, tourism  and the ease of business between two nations. 

In August, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also proposed two new technology additions for the UPI which would enable users to make payments via mere conversation and through Near Field Communication (NFC). RIght afterwards, the central bank also increased the per transaction limit for UPI Lite to INR 500 from INR 200.