UPI transactions in month of January, 2025 surpassed 16.99 billion and the value exceeded ₹‎23.48 lakh crore, marking the highest number recorded in any month

 

Prof. Carlos Montes, who is on a tour to India for attending and speaking at the NXT event at the Bharat Mandapam tomorrow, was briefed about the working and achievements of UPI system.

Prof. Carlos leads the Innovation Hub for Prosperity at the Cambridge University Business School.

A presentation on UPI was given by the DFS and NPCI Team to Prof. Carlos Montes about the functioning,  success and trends of UPI in India. In the briefing, senior officers  from the Department of Financial Services (DFS),  M/o Finance including Shri  Sudhir Shyam    (Economic Adviser) and Shri  Jignesh Solanki (Director)  were present among  others.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) provides an opportunity to other countries to learn from the Indian experience and get ideas on how to adopt it in their own countries, said Professor Carlos Montes, Lead Innovation Hub, University of Cambridge Business School 

For the first time, UPI transactions in the month of January, 2025 surpassed 16.99 billion and the value exceeded ₹‎23.48 lakh crore marking the highest number recorded in any month.

After the demonstration, Prof. Montes said that he was glad to see the success of the UPI payment system. The growth of UPI shows that the government is making sure that the technology that they develop is user friendly for citizens, and that there is a regular and constant innovation in the same which explains the high adoption rate of UPI in India, Prof. Montes added. He further said that it  also has potential for other countries to learn from the experience and get ideas on how to adopt it in their own countries.

For FY 2023-24, the digital payments landscape has demonstrated remarkable expansion. UPI remains the cornerstone of India's digital payment ecosystem contributing to 80% of the retail payments across the country. The total transaction volume exceeded 131 billion and the value exceeded ₹‎200 lakh crore for the FY 2023-24. Its ease of use, combined with a growing network of participating banks and fintech platforms, has made UPI the preferred mode of real-time payments for millions of users across the country.

As of Jan, 2025, 80+ UPI Apps (Bank Apps & Third Party Application Providers), 641 banks  are currently live on UPI ecosystem. In FY 24-25 (till Jan, 2025), the P2M transactions contribute 62.35% and P2P transactions contribute 37.65% of the overall UPI volume. The contribution of P2M transactions reached 62.35% in Jan, 2025 where 86% of these transactions are upto a value of INR 500. This indicates the trust that UPI enjoys among citizens for making low value payments.

UPI: Transactions (by Volume in mn) for Jan’2025

 

UPI Global Expansion:

Shri Sudhir Shyam, Economic Adviser at Department of Financial Services (DFS) said that India’s digital payments revolution is extending beyond its borders. UPI is rapidly expanding globally, enabling seamless cross-border transactions for Indians traveling abroad. Currently, UPI is live in over 7 countries, including key markets such as [UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, Mauritius], allowing Indians to make payments internationally. This expansion will further bolster remittance flows, improve financial inclusion, and elevate India's stature in the global financial landscape.

Sh. Sundar also said that some other countries have also shown interest in UPI.

Demonstration of UPI

Sh. Jignesh Solanki added that while volume of total online transactions have increased massively over the years, the share is taken by UPI mainly due to ease and low cost of the transactions. Government is focussed on bringing new innovations that will help UPI expand in uncovered areas as well.

The session ended with a small demonstration of working of UPI to the delegation as well.

Digital payment adoption via UPI drives widespread low value retail use and enables international payment interoperability. UPI operates as India's dominant real time retail payment system, driven by user centric design, low transaction costs, and continuous innovation. Recent briefings reported record monthly and fiscal volumes, widespread participation by banks and third party apps, and a majority share of P2M transactions-largely low value payments-demonstrating UPI's centrality to everyday retail payments. The platform's international expansion positions UPI as a model for cross border interoperability and an object of study for other jurisdictions seeking to adopt similar real time payment architectures.