India’s digital payment system saw remarkable growth in the first half of 2024. Transactions using Unified Payments Interface (UPI) surged 52% to 78.97 billion, from 51.9 billion compared to the same period last year according to reports.
Month-wise, UPI Transaction surges to 13.9 billion
As per the report by Worldline, a global leader in payment services, UPI transactions jumped from 8.03 billion to 13.9 billion from January to June of last year, month-wise. The transaction value also grew, rising from INR 12.98 lakh crore in January to INR 20.07 lakh crore in June accordingly. Additionally, the overall value of transactions also grew by 40%, rising from INR 83.16 lakh crore to INR 116.63 lakh crore.
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Following recent revelations, Ramesh Narasimhan, CEO, Worldline India released a statement, saying, “This significant rise in UPI transactions, particularly in the person-to-merchant (P2M) segment, further cements its position as the preferred method for micro-transactions, demonstrating long-term sustainability and even movement to larger transactions in the coming years.”
Notably, the average UPI transaction value fell to INR 1,478 in the first half of this year, down from INR 1,603 last year, an 8% decrease. Meanwhile, the payment infrastructure is expanding, with over 8.96 million point of sale (POS) terminals now in use.
Grocery stores, restaurants, service stations etc makes up 68% of transactions
Furthermore, the report showed that the most popular in-store shopping categories were grocery stores, restaurants, service stations, clothing stores, government services, pharmacies, and hospitals. These made up about 68% of transaction volume and 53% of transaction value. For online shopping, e-commerce, gaming, utilities, government services, and financial services accounted for around 81% of transaction volume and 74% of transaction value.
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Interestingly, UPI QR codes have seen a significant 39% growth, increasing from 244.23 million to 340 million. This surge has also led to a rise in UPI transactions. The UPI market is largely dominated by three popular apps: PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm. Until June, these three apps comprised an impressive 94.83% of all UPI transactions.
Meanwhile, card transactions saw steady growth in the first half of 2024. The total number of transactions rose 3% to 3.735 billion compared to the same period last year. More notably, the total value of transactions jumped 21% to INR 13.49 lakh crore.
