Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions increased slightly by 0.53% month-on-month (MoM) in September, reaching 15.04 billion, up from 14.96 billion in the previous month.
Significant͏͏ Year-on-Year͏͏ Increase:
Year-on-year,͏͏ the͏͏ transaction͏͏ count͏͏ soared͏͏ by͏͏ 42%.
According͏͏ to͏͏ data͏͏ from͏͏ the͏͏ National͏͏ Payments͏͏ Corporation͏͏ of͏͏ India,͏͏ total͏͏ UPI͏͏ transactions͏͏ in͏͏ September͏͏ reached͏͏ INR͏͏ 20.64͏͏ lakh͏͏ crore,͏͏ compared͏͏ to͏͏ INR͏͏ 20.61͏͏ lakh͏͏ crore͏͏ in͏͏ the͏͏ previous͏͏ month,͏͏ reflecting͏͏ a͏͏ 0.14%͏͏ increase.
UPI͏͏ transaction͏͏ volume͏͏ increased͏͏ by͏͏ 31%͏͏ year-on-year.
Continue͏͏ Exploring:͏͏ UPI transactions͏͏ rise͏͏ 3.6%͏͏ month-on-month͏͏ to͏͏ 14.96͏͏ Bn͏͏ in͏͏ August
Dominance͏͏ of͏͏ Key͏͏ Players:
In͏͏ terms͏͏ of͏͏ UPI͏͏ market͏͏ share,͏͏ fintech͏͏ giants͏͏ PhonePe͏͏ and͏͏ Google͏͏ Pay͏͏ remain͏͏ dominant,͏͏ holding͏͏ 48.4%͏͏ and͏͏ 37.3%͏͏ of͏͏ the͏͏ market,͏͏ respectively,͏͏ as͏͏ of͏͏ August.
Potential͏͏ Changes͏͏ to͏͏ Market͏͏ Share͏͏ Cap:
This͏͏ development͏͏ comes͏͏ as͏͏ NPCI͏͏ is͏͏ considering͏͏ increasing͏͏ the͏͏ market͏͏ share͏͏ cap͏͏ for͏͏ Unified͏͏ Payments͏͏ Interface͏͏ (UPI)͏͏ apps͏͏ from͏͏ the͏͏ proposed͏͏ 30%.
To͏͏ curb͏͏ the͏͏ dominance͏͏ of͏͏ major͏͏ digital͏͏ payment͏͏ players͏͏ such͏͏ as͏͏ Google͏͏ Pay͏͏ and͏͏ PhonePe,͏͏ the͏͏ NPCI͏͏ initially͏͏ proposed͏͏ a͏͏ 30%͏͏ market͏͏ cap͏͏ for͏͏ third-party͏͏ app͏͏ providers͏͏ in͏͏ November͏͏ 2020,͏͏ extending͏͏ the͏͏ deadline͏͏ from͏͏ December͏͏ 2022͏͏ to͏͏ December͏͏ 2024.
However,͏͏ in͏͏ May,͏͏ reports͏͏ indicated͏͏ that͏͏ the͏͏ NPCI͏͏ was͏͏ considering͏͏ extending͏͏ the͏͏ year-end͏͏ deadline͏͏ by͏͏ up͏͏ to͏͏ two͏͏ years͏͏ to͏͏ maintain͏͏ the͏͏ market͏͏ share͏͏ cap͏͏ at͏͏ 30%.
Earlier,͏͏ in͏͏ February,͏͏ a͏͏ parliamentary͏͏ panel͏͏ raised͏͏ concerns͏͏ about͏͏ the͏͏ dominance͏͏ of͏͏ global͏͏ fintech͏͏ apps͏͏ in͏͏ the͏͏ Indian͏͏ digital͏͏ payments͏͏ ecosystem.
Global͏͏ Promotion͏͏ of͏͏ UPI:
Despite͏͏ this,͏͏ the͏͏ Indian͏͏ government͏͏ is͏͏ promoting͏͏ UPI͏͏ globally.͏͏ In͏͏ July,͏͏ PM͏͏ Modi͏͏ announced͏͏ plans͏͏ to͏͏ integrate͏͏ UPI͏͏ with͏͏ Malaysia’s͏͏ national͏͏ payments͏͏ network,͏͏ PayNet.͏͏ That͏͏ same͏͏ month,͏͏ NPCI͏͏ launched͏͏ the͏͏ ‘UPI͏͏ One͏͏ World’͏͏ wallet͏͏ for͏͏ foreign͏͏ tourists͏͏ in͏͏ collaboration͏͏ with͏͏ IDFC͏͏ First͏͏ Bank͏͏ and͏͏ Transcorp͏͏ International͏͏ Limited.
Furthermore,͏͏ countries͏͏ such͏͏ as͏͏ Sri͏͏ Lanka,͏͏ Mauritius,͏͏ Bhutan,͏͏ Nepal,͏͏ the͏͏ UAE,͏͏ and͏͏ Canada͏͏ have͏͏ already͏͏ implemented͏͏ India’s͏͏ UPI͏͏ payment͏͏ model͏͏ to͏͏ varying͏͏ degrees.
In͏͏ addition͏͏ to͏͏ UPI,͏͏ the͏͏ NPCI͏͏ has͏͏ introduced͏͏ several͏͏ new͏͏ features͏͏ to͏͏ enhance͏͏ the͏͏ adoption͏͏ of͏͏ digital͏͏ payments,͏͏ including͏͏ UPI͏͏ Lite͏͏ for͏͏ low-value͏͏ transactions,͏͏ UPI͏͏ Lite͏͏ X͏͏ for͏͏ offline͏͏ transactions,͏͏ and͏͏ Hello!͏͏ UPI,͏͏ which͏͏ enables͏͏ users͏͏ to͏͏ make͏͏ payments͏͏ using͏͏ their͏͏ voice.
