UPI transactions makes a strong comeback in June; registers 10pc increase

Monthly transactions on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform has hit a new high for June after seeing a consistent decline in the previous two months amidst the second COVID-19 wave.

According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the total transaction value for June stood at Rs 5,47,373.17 crore — nearly a 10 percent rise — as compared to May figures — Rs 4,90,638 crore.

ALSO READ

One of India’s biggest SME lenders is now seeing more consumer loans. Here’s Capital Float’s story

The total transaction volume for June stood at 280 crore, which was a 12 percent rise as compared to 253 core in May.

NPCI is yet to disclose the data on the market share of third-party app providers, including PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, etc.

Previously, in March 2021, UPI transactions created a new benchmark with Rs 5,04,886 crore worth of transaction, a 145 percent growth value over the last year, before declining in April and May due to the deadly second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

UPI — the digital infrastructure for online financial services in India — had crossed an important benchmark of Rs 4 lakh crore in monthly value transactions in December 2020. It has since been consistently above this mark.

In fact, UPI transaction volume crossed the two-billion mark in October 2020.

The growth in UPI has also witnessed intense competition among the three key players in this segment — PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm. In fact, PhonePe has emerged as the market leader, overtaking Google Pay.

The growth recorded by UPI comes amidst plans by the NPCI to take the homegrown platform overseas. Moreover, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opened the doors for private players to provide a similar platform to UPI, which is expected to open the entire digital payment infrastructure and reduce the chances of a monopoly.