Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions in India are expected to reach 1 billion per day by the financial year 2026-27, accounting for 90% of the retail digital payments, said a report by PwC India.
Calling it the UPI a “game-changer” in India’s digital payments ecosystem, PwC says since its launch in 2016 has gained massive acceptance, thanks to features such as instant transactions and credit to beneficiaries in real time; seamless integration of multiple use cases; using application programming interfaces (APIs); convenience in making payments due to interoperability; secured mode of payments; no additional costs to customers; and adaptive framework for mobile networks and fintechs.
The data in the report said that UPI grew from 18 million transactions and ₹69.61 billion in financial year 2016–2017 to 83,751 million transactions amounting to ₹1,39,204 billion in the year 2022–2023, contributing to a compound annual growth rate of 234% in transactions and 196 percent in value.
The linkage of credit cards on UPI, international transactions enabled through UPI, and credit lines on UPI will bring in additional revenue and provide benefits to all ecosystem players, says the report. It also advised that since the NPCI has recommended an interchange fee up to 1.1 percent of the transaction value to be levied on PPI-UPI transactions greater than ₹2,000, Merchant Discount Rate for small merchants should be waived.
