Unified Payments Interface (UPI) Transactions Overview

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) recorded a total of 17.89 billion transactions in April, reflecting a minor decrease of 2.24% compared to the 18.30 billion transactions observed in March. The total transaction value also indicated a slight reduction of 3.3%, with April’s value reaching Rs 23.95 lakh crore in contrast to Rs 24.77 lakh crore the previous month.

Nonetheless, the year-over-year growth figures remained robust. The transaction count for April showcased a 34% increase compared to the same month last year, while the total transaction amount rose by 22% in comparison to April of the previous year.

Average Daily Transactions in April

As per the data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the average daily transaction count for April was recorded at 596 million, which is an increase from 590 million in March. The average daily transaction value also saw a slight rise, increasing to Rs 79,831 crore from Rs 79,910 crore the previous month.

Since April comprises 30 days compared to March’s 31 days, incorporating one day’s average daily transaction volume into April’s overall UPI transactions would align it similarly with March’s transaction count. The small decline in April could likely be attributed to the fewer business days available that month, as well as a possible normalisation after the financial year-end rush observed in March.

Leading UPI Apps

PhonePe continued to lead the UPI app market as of March, followed closely by Google Pay, Paytm, Navi, and Super.money. With a dominant 47.25% market share based on transaction volume, PhonePe completed 8.64 billion transactions. Google Pay trailed with a market share of 36.04%, processing 6.59 billion transactions. Together, these two key players accounted for more than 83% of the overall UPI transaction volume.

Government Initiatives for Digital Payments

In a recent update, the Indian government has sanctioned a new initiative with a budget of Rs 1,500 crore aimed at promoting the use of digital payments among small merchants via the BHIM-UPI platform.