GLOBAL UPI

WITH THE DOMESTIC MARKET CONQUERED, CAN UPI BECOME INDIA'S GIFT TO THE WORLD?

- BY TEENA JAIN KAUSHAL

FROM PAYING THE local vegetable vendor to paying for a luxury bag, UPI (Unified Payments Interface) has drastically simplified digital transactions for billions. Since its launch in 2016, it has emerged as a transformative force in India's financial system, offering real-time, bank-to-bank transfers through mobile apps. In April 2025 alone, UPI processed over 18 billion transactions, outpacing debit and credit card volumes, which stood at 450 million and 117 million respectively. This meteoric rise highlights UPI's unparalleled user adoption in India and operational scalability.

Its domestic dominance stems from features like zero-cost transactions, interoperability across banks and platforms, and an intuitive mobile experience. UPI's ability to enable peer-to-peer transfers, utility bill payments, and merchant transactions with a single click has made it the go-to platform across urban and rural India alike.

According to the Reserve Bank of India, among all digital retail payment modes, UPI has maintained a steady year-on-year expansion of 34.5% in April 2025, proving that it's not just popular— it's essential to India's digital

economy. The Great Indian Wallet Study (2025) by consumer finance company Home Credit reveals the widespread adaptation of UPI for person-to-person transactions, especially among the lower middle-class, with 77% now leveraging UPI as a seamless mode of payment—a significant 5 percentage point increase from last year. This highlights UPI's role in bridging the financial divide.