Digital payments got a fresh boost in February with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) touching a new high in terms of transaction value and volumes. Data with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) revealed that UPI transactions touched 132.32 crore , involving ₹2.2-lakh crore.

This is a significant jump from January, when UPI transactions stood at 130.5 crore amounting to ₹2.16-lakh crore. This comes at a time when the NPCI has launched a fresh campaign to target a broader audience with access to a smartphone and a bank account.

The findings of a pre-campaign study conducted among 12,800 people in four zones showed that awareness of UPI is at 60 per cent. UPI had crossed 100-crore transactions in October last year, a major milestone for the payment service, which was launched in 2016.

IMPS transactions down

Transactions through the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), however, declined. In all, 24.78 crore transactions, involving ₹2.14-lakh crore, took place through IMPS in February.

In comparison, IMPS touched a record high of 25.95 crore transactions in January, totalling ₹2.16-lakh crore. Transactions through the BHIM app also scaled a new high in January, the latest month for which data is available.

BHIM processed 1.85 crore transactions in January, totalling ₹6,611.22 crore. In contrast, 1.78 crore transactions, amounting to ₹6,316.37 crore, took place in December 2019.

The recent India Digital Payments Report by Worldline had noted that the significant difference between IMPS and UPI volumes, compared to debit and credit cards, indicates that digital payment products are being primarily utilised for Person-to-Person (P2P) transactions rather than Person-to-Merchant (P2M) transactions.

“Going forward, it would be interesting to see whether the availability of NEFT 24x7 will have an impact on the usage pattern of UPI and IMPS transactions,” it had noted.

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