UPI Transaction Value Slips Marginally In April As Volume Sits At A Record High

SUMMARY

On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the number of UPI transactions increased by 59%, while the UPI transaction value increased by 43%

The number of banks operating on the UPI network went from 399 in March to 414 in April, the biggest MoM increase in the last 16 months

A typical day in April saw about 296.60 Mn transactions, close to 30% of NPCI’s intended goal of touching 1 Bn transactions a day in the next five years

The United Payments Interface (UPI) failed to carry forward its momentum as the transaction volume slipped 0.24% to INR 14.07 Lakh Cr in April 2023 from INR 14.10 Cr in March.

However, according to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data, the number of transactions reached a record high, up 2.45% month-on-month (MoM), from 868.53 Cr in March to 889.81 Cr in April 2023.

On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the number of UPI transactions soared 59%, while the UPI transaction value jumped 43%.

Incidentally, the number of banks operating on the UPI network went from 399 in March to 414 in April, the biggest MoM increase in the last 16 months.

While the app-wise breakdown of data is yet to be released by the NPCI, PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm continued their stronghold on the UPI transactions market.

The three apps secured a 94% market share in terms of the number of UPI transactions processed in March 2023, according to the NPCI data.

Similarly, the top three apps accounted for nearly 96% of all UPI transactions by value. This translates to about 841.91 Cr transactions worth INR 13.44 Lakh Cr made on the three apps.

The NPCI also released in-depth statistics for UPI transactions last month, including transaction types. In April 2023, peer-to-peer (P2P) payments accounted for 77.18% of all payments by value, while peer-to-merchant (P2M) payments accounted for 22.82%.

In terms of UPI transaction count, P2P payments accounted for 43.47% of the total payments made during April 2023, while the remaining 56.53% were under P2M payments.

As such, while a majority of the 889.91 Cr payments were made to merchants in April, P2P payments dominated the transaction value.

The data also shed light on category-wise transactions. While groceries, supermarkets, restaurants and digital goods were high transacting categories, utilities, online marketplaces and bars were tagged under medium transacting categories.

It is prudent to mention that the NPCI has set an ambitious target of achieving 1 Bn transactions a day in the next five years. A typical day in April 2023 saw about 296.60 Mn transactions, close to 30% of the intended goal.