United Payments Interface (UPI), the brainchild of National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI) is now processing more than 1 crore transactions per month.
This is a major milestone for UPI because, after its launch in April last year, UPI transactions were clocked at 10 lakh in August 2016. The jump from 10 lakh to 1 crore in 11 months proves that UPI is here to stay, and maybe in future, it can also overtake card based transactions.
UPI’s Expansion Continues – 1 Cr/ Month Mark Breached
There is a reason that virtually every popular social network, portal and service is striving hard to integrate UPI into their platform.
We have already reported how services like Uber, Whatsapp, Hike (which became the 1st messenger to integrate UPI), Indian Railways, Make My Trip, ICICI Bank, Ola and others are either embedding UPI into their platform or have already done that.
As of now, 50 banks are offering UPI services via their own dedicated app.
And the results have been fascinating, to say the least.
A.P. Hota, managing director and chief executive officer of NPCI said, “Transactions on UPI are growing exponentially due to increased acceptance among member banks, merchants and consumers. Usage of UPI powered BHIM App (Bharat Interface for Money) has also been a significant contributor..”
As per data released by NPCI, the volume of payment processed using UPI platform, which includes UPI, BHIM and USSD 2.0 – *99#, has breached 1 crore in the month of June.
Here is the breakdown for the last 3 months:
- April 2017: 72 lakh
- May 2017: 93 lakh
- June 2017: 1.3 crore
Interestingly, 22% of all UPI transactions are merchant-based, which means that its commercial viability is also increasing.
UPI has been hailed as a revolutionary concept for its ease of use – anyone with a mobile number and a bank account can transfer or receive.
As per Hota, their next aim is to launch an enhanced version of UPI via BHEEM App, to take the story even further.
He said, “Our current focus is on the release of next version of BHIM App with enhanced functionalities..”
Can UPI Beat Card Based Payments?
Based on the aggressiveness shown by Govt. in promoting and launching UPI-based payment processing, it won’t be shocking if we declare that UPI can one-day beat card-based payments as well.
In terms of absolute growth, UPI has already beaten eWallets, way back in March.
While 2 lakh transactions were processed per day via UPI during that period, overall, Rs 2000 crore worth of transactions were processed, which is an increase of 20% month on month.
In the same period, eWallet based transactions decreased by 10-15%.
And the biggest sign of the incredible pace of UPI: Average transaction on UPI is Rs 4000, which is much more than average transaction on an eWallet.
No wonder card processing companies like Visa and Master are troubled by UPI, and they have registered their protest as well.
Do you use UPI for your cashless transactions? Do let us know by commenting right here!
HAHAHA Visa and Mastercard have “registered their protest”?? ROFL!! :) Poor Visa, Poor Mastercard :) .
WELL DONE, GoI!! Can someone tell me how to DO it tho? Like, what do I DO on my phone to pay somebody?