UPI clocks 2.21 bn transactions in November

The number of transactions on the United Payments Interface (UPI) touched 2.21 billion in November, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). 

The digital payments system, owned and operated by retail payments body NPCI, first breached the 2 billion mark in October.  

There was a 6% month-on-month increase in the volume of transactions in November, compared to 2.07 billion in October and 1.8 billion in September. 

The transaction volume on UPI is likely to touch 1 billion per month over the next two to three years, Dilip Asbe, CEO of NPCI, said at a recent event. 

The value of transactions processed by UPI in November was at Rs 3,90,999 crore, an increase of 1% from October. The value of transactions rose 17.3% in October from September, attributable to festive spends. 

Instant fund transfer through IMPS also saw an increase in the number of transactions to 339.11 million for November, a 6% rise from 318.97 million transactions in October. 

SBI and Axis Bank were the top remitter banks on UPI for October, NPCI said in an earlier statement. 

Last month, NPCI said it would cap the volume of third-party UPI transactions to 30% of overall transactions through the payment system, effective January 1, 2021. Existing third party apps such as Google Pay, PhonePe and others will get two years to comply with the order. 

The retail payments regulator also completed the private placement of 4.3% of its equity shares, adding 19 new shareholders to its cap table, including digital payment companies One Mobikwik, Paytm Payments Bank, Amazon Pay and PhonePe.