India’s digital payments ecosystem continued its rapid expansion in January, with Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions rising 28 per cent year-on-year to 21.70 billion, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
The strong growth reflects sustained adoption of UPI across peer-to-peer and merchant payments, driven by ease of use, wider QR acceptance, and increasing participation from banks and fintech platforms. Industry observers note that daily-use cases—such as retail purchases, bill payments, and transit—are powering transaction volumes, even as ticket sizes remain modest.
NPCI highlighted that the consistent rise underscores UPI’s role as the backbone of India’s cashless economy. With ongoing feature enhancements and deeper integration across sectors, UPI is expected to maintain its growth momentum in the coming months.
UPI, operated by NPCI, has become one of the world’s largest real-time payment systems, enabling instant fund transfers between bank accounts via mobile applications.