UPI Touches Fresh All-Time High In July With 19.47 Bn Transactions

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions jumped 5.8% to 19.47 Bn in July, touching a new all-time high. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the transaction count grew 35%.

In June, the transaction volume saw a dip to 18.40 Bn transactions.

As per National Payments Corporation of India’s data, the UPI transactions in July accounted for INR 25.08 Lakh Cr, a 4.3% increase from INR 24.04 Lakh Cr worth transactions recorded in the previous month.

Prior to this, UPI transaction volume touched an all-time high mark in May with 18.68 Bn transactions.

The average daily transaction count rose to 682 Mn in the month under review as against 613 Mn in June. Besides, the average daily transaction amount stood at INR 80,919 Cr in July.

India’s UPI To Facilitate Cross-Border Payments

While UPI continues to deepen its penetration locally, the government is taking several measures to widen its reach internationally. Last month, US-based online payment gateway PayPal partnered with the international arm of National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), among others, to build a global digital payment platform called PayPal World.

Under this, users will be able to pay for international business or send money overseas by using UPI and their other native payment systems, including Latin America’s Mercado Pago, China’s Tenpay Global and PayPal’s Venmo.

With this development, UPI will record more transactions with international users coming on board.

In March, RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra also said that the central bankplans to continue expanding the reach of UPI“bilaterally” by linking the payments infrastructure with fast payment systems of other nations.

UPI Sustainability Concerns

While NPCI’s digital payment system continues to expand its reach, the RBI has some concerns regarding its sustainability.

Last month, the RBI governor said that UPI’s financial sustainabilitywill depend on changing the system of free digital transactions to include minimal charges.

As the UPI system currently operates without any charges for users, it is the government that has been footing the bill by subsidising banks and other stakeholders who enable the seamless, real-time payments infrastructure, he added.

On the other hand, NPCI is working on an internet of things (IoT) version of the UPI, to facilitate users with digital payment options via smart devices like smart applicances, wearables, connected cars, among others.

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