Highlights
PhonePe Dominates UPI Transactions in May
PhonePe secured its leading role in the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) landscape in May, processing a remarkable 10.73 billion transactions. Recent data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) shows that UPI achieved a total of 23.2 billion transactions during the month, marking an increase from April’s 22.35 billion. The collective transaction value also experienced growth, reaching Rs 29.90 lakh crore as the payments network continued to exhibit strong activity in both merchant and peer-to-peer transactions.
In terms of market share, PhonePe accounted for 46.3% of the overall UPI transaction volume for May. By value, it held a substantial 49.1% share after transactions amounting to Rs 14.67 lakh crore. Google Pay maintained its position as the second largest with 7.60 billion transactions, equating to a 32.8% volume share. Its value share stood at 33.5%, representing transactions worth Rs 10.03 lakh crore.
Paytm ranked third among UPI providers, managing 1.84 billion transactions, which provided it with a 7.9% market share by volume and 6.7% by value. Notably, all three platforms – PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm – achieved their highest ever monthly transaction volumes in May, reflecting a continued rise in UPI activities.
Emerging Players in the UPI Space
Among newer entrants, Navi recorded over 824 million transactions, solidifying its stance within the UPI ecosystem. Meanwhile, Flipkart-backed super.money facilitated 419 million transactions, and BHIM processed 227 million during the same period. Smaller platforms demonstrated impressive growth, with FamApp by Trio documenting approximately 197 million transactions and CRED facilitating 157 million transactions with a total value of Rs 61,002 crore. Despite having a lower transaction volume, CRED successfully maintained a 2% value share, indicating higher average transaction sizes among its users.
Furthermore, WhatsApp surpassed 150 million transactions in May, while Axis Bank’s applications contributed 134 million transactions across customer-initiated, B2C, and B2B payments. Notably, PhonePe and Google Pay together accounted for nearly 79% of the UPI transaction volume and 82.6% of transaction value during the month, clearly positioning themselves ahead of other competitors in the digital payments sector in India.
Categories of UPI Spending
In May, UPI spending continued to focus on everyday consumer categories. Groceries and supermarkets led the charge with 3.87 billion transactions, trailed by fast food restaurants at 1.50 billion and traditional restaurants with 1.29 billion. Telecom services and fuel stations also ranked highly among the key categories. Transactions for digital gold purchases showed minimal change from April, with volume slightly increasing to 249 million from 245 million, while transaction value decreased slightly to Rs 2,451 crore compared to Rs 2,499 crore in the previous month, keeping this category among the top ten merchant segments by transaction volume.