India’s UPI Real-Time Payments System Tops 9 Billion Monthly Transactions

India’s monthly Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transaction count has topped 9 billion in a single month.

The real-time payments system’s transaction count hit 9.41 billion in May, up 58% year over year, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said in a Thursday (June 1) tweet.

It’s 9 Billion+ transactions in May`23! Make seamless payments from your mobile in real-time with UPI. #upichalega #UPI #DigitalPayments @GoI_MeitY @_DigitalIndia @dilipasbe pic.twitter.com/H7qUs7nZ4M

— NPCI (@NPCI_NPCI) June 1, 2023

The transaction amount reached 14.89 lakh crore, representing 43% growth year over year, the NPCI said.

“Celebrating a milestone moment,” NPCI said in another Thursday tweet. “We’ve crossed a phenomenal #9billion transactions on UPI in the month of May’23, & it’s all thanks to you, India! Together, we are shaping the future of payments.”

Celebrating a milestone moment! We’ve crossed a phenomenal #9billion transactions on UPI in the month of May’23, & it’s all thanks to you, India! Together, we are shaping the future of payments. Let’s continue this journey of growth and innovation!#DigitalPayments #ThankYouIndia pic.twitter.com/wPaYoLSdA4

— NPCI (@NPCI_NPCI) June 1, 2023

May’s transaction count of 9.41 billion was up from 8.89 billion in April and 8.68 billion in March, NPCI said in the tweet.

The transaction amount of 14.89 lakh crore was up from 14.07 lake crore in April and 14.10 lakh crore in March, the organization added.

The explosive growth of India’s UPI may chart the path for real-time payments in the United States as the Federal Reserve progresses on its own real-time payments journey.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-founded UPI traces its genesis to 2016 and enables instant money transfers, directly between bank accounts.

The appeal of immediate payments, 24/7, using a mobile device as a conduit, has caught on — especially with the financial services providers, where the tally of participating banks surged from 21 at the time of the initial pilot to more than 350 banks at present.

UPI is also paving the path for a global, interoperable real-time remittance network.

The NPCI said in January that it is widening access to the UPI to non-resident Indians in several countries, including Singapore, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“There has been customer demand in the ecosystem to enable UPI for their [non-resident] accounts [to] experience the seamless and instant journey of UPI,” the NPCI said at the time.

Other countries making advancements in implementing real-time payment methods include the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan and Peru, according to the June edition of “The Real-Time Payments World Map,” a PYMNTS and The Clearing House collaboration.