With 9.81 billion customer-initiated transactions totaling Rs 13.61 lakh crore in December, PhonePe has maintained its hold over India's UPI ecosystem, according to statistics gathered from NPCI disclosures. Among the top 10 UPI apps for the month, the Walmart-backed fintech had a 45.35% market share by volume and a 48.68% market share by value.

Key Highlights

• PhonePe processed 9.8 billion UPI transactions in December, reinforcing its leadership in digital payments.
• BHIM surpassed CRED in UPI transaction volumes, signaling shifting user preferences in payment apps.

With 7.5 billion transactions, or 34.64% of total volumes and 34.25% of total transaction value, Google Pay maintained its second-place ranking. With 1.65 billion transactions in December, Paytm maintained its third-place ranking. This amounts to a share of 6.32% by value and 7.65% by volume.

Activity was still dispersed outside of the top three. Super.money recorded 287 million transactions during the month, compared to 678 million reported by Navi. CRED fell to seventh place with 157.25 million transactions, while the government-backed BHIM app recorded 158 million. In contrast to BHIM, CRED recorded a transaction value that was over three times larger.

WhatsApp Pay and Axis Bank's UPI apps continued to be minor contributors, making up less than 1% of all transaction volumes.

With 21.63 billion transactions totaling Rs 27.97 lakh crore, UPI had one of its highest-ever monthly transactions in December, coinciding with the impressive app-level figures. Year-end spending, ongoing holiday demand, and a growth in UPI usage for minor offline payments in tier II and tier III cities were the primary causes of the increase.

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Everyday consumption categories dominated UPI transactions in December, with grocery and supermarkets at the top of the list, followed by restaurants, fast food restaurants, telecom services, and gas stations. From 123.42 million transactions worth Rs 1,215.36 crore in November to 183.32 million transactions worth Rs 2,079.31 crore during the month, digital gold too experienced a significant increase.