UPI transactions cross 6 billion in July, the highest since 2016

India’s flagship digital platform Unified Payments Interface (UPI) clocked over 6 billion transactions in July — an increase of 7% over June — and the highest ever since its inception in 2016, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a Tweet on Tuesday. According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data that operates UPI, the platform has reported a 6.28 billion transaction in July. 

In terms of volume of transactions, July recorded 7.16% jump on a month-on-month basis. On YoY, the volume of transactions nearly doubled. The value of transactions in July increased by 4.76% while 75% YoY. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also lauded Indians for their collective resolve to embrace new technologies and called it an ‘outstanding accomplishment’.

“This is an outstanding accomplishment. It indicates the collective resolve of the people of India to embrace new technologies and make the economy cleaner. Digital payments were particularly helpful during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Modi said in a tweet.

The UPI facility was launched on April 11, 2016, by then Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan. Any UPI app can use payment and transfer fund from and to UPI enabled banks, besides, various third-party apps such as Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, MobiKwik, Amazon Pay, etc. NPCI manages its own app called Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM). 

From 21 banks in April 2016, the total number of banks linked to UPI platform is 304 as of February 2022. In FY22, UPI processed more than 46 billion transactions amounting to over ₹84.17 trillion. UPI’s target is to process a billion transactions a day in the next five years, as per its website.

Recently, the NPCI mandated that all UPI-based applications obtain consumers’ prior authorisation before recording their location, else the company will take stern action. This rule must be followed by all members by December 1 and applies to domestic UPI transactions between individuals.