The number of UPI transactions surpassed the 5 billion mark for the first time in March 2022, two days ahead of the month-end.
According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) tweet, the transactions through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) reached a new high of 5,040.86 million for a total value of Rs 888,169 crore, from March 1 to 29.
Growth in UPI Transactions in 2022
This record four-week high in UPI transactions volume comes after a slight 1.9% month-over-month decline in February 2022, total transactions fell to 4,527.49 million from 4,617.15 million in January 2022.
The value of UPI transactions also declined a negligible 0.6% month-over-month, from Rs 8,31,993.11 crore in January 2022 to Rs 8,26,843 crore in February 2022.
During the fiscal year 2022, UPI processed approximately 45,602.74 million transactions worth Rs 8,345,159.82 crore in India. When converted to US dollars, the value of UPI transactions in FY22 exceeds $1 trillion.
Please note that at the current exchange rate, $1 trillion equals approximately Rs 75.82 lakh crore.
Currently, there are 304 banks in India that are associated with UPI.
It was October 2019 when the total number of UPI transactions in India has crossed the 1 billion mark for the first time since its launch in 2016, making it the fastest-growing mobile payment system in the world.
Increasing Adoption of UPI Payments In India
The mobile payment market in India is currently led by Paytm, PhonePe, and GooglePay. Together they account for a whopping 88% of the total UPI transactions volume. Unlike mobile wallets, which settle payments with retailers on a weekly or twice-weekly basis, the instant money transfer facility provided by UPI has caught the attention of individual and small retailers.
Due to the covid-19 pandemic, the adoption of UPI payments has risen dramatically in the last two years. Most people in metro cities prefer cashless transactions for almost everything, including grocery shopping, clothing, and flight and train ticket bookings, among other things. As a result, UPI has been setting new records in terms of transaction volume and value month after month.