New Delhi: India’s digital payments ecosystem has witnessed a dramatic transformation, with the United Payments Interface (UPI) emerging as the cornerstone of financial transactions, according to the latest Reserve Bank of India’s Payments System Report.
UPI now commands an overwhelming 83 per cent share of total payment volume in 2024, a substantial increase from 34 per cent in 2019, while traditional payment methods including RTGS, NEFT, IMPS, and card-based transactions have declined to 17 per cent of the market.
The growth trajectory of UPI has been nothing short of remarkable, with transaction volumes soaring from 375 crore in 2018 to 17,221 crore in 2024.
In monetary terms, UPI transactions escalated from Rs 5.86 lakh crore to Rs 246.83 lakh crore during the same period, demonstrating exceptional compound annual growth rates of 89.3 per cent in volume and 86.5 per cent in value over the five-year span.
The broader Indian payment ecosystem has experienced substantial expansion, with the total transaction value rising from Rs 1,775 lakh crore in 2019 to Rs 2,830 lakh crore in 2024.
Particularly noteworthy is the growth in retail digital payments, which have multiplied nearly 100-fold over the past 12 years, reaching 16,416 crore transactions in fiscal year 2025.
This digital transformation is further evidenced by the RBI’s Digital Payment Index, which has more than quadrupled from its base value of 100 in March 2018 to 445.50 in March 2024.
RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar attributes this remarkable progress to a combination of innovation and supportive regulatory frameworks, which have elevated India’s payment systems to rank among the world’s most sophisticated.
The overall digital payments landscape has maintained robust growth rates, recording a five-year CAGR of 45.9 per cent in volume and 10.2 per cent in value, highlighting India’s successful transition toward a digital economy.
