According to the Finance Ministry, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed 15,547 crore transactions worth ₹223 lakh crore between January and November of this year.
In a social media post on X, the government highlighted UPI's significant impact on financial transactions in India. The ministry used the hashtag #FinMinYearReview2024 to emphasize UPI's growing global importance and its increasing use in various countries.
India's digital payment revolution is spreading around the world, with UPI and RuPay both making quick progress overseas. The United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, and Mauritius are among the seven nations where UPI currently operates.
In 2016, UPI, a digital payment system that facilitates quick money transfers between bank accounts, was launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Since then, by combining numerous bank accounts into a single smartphone app, it has revolutionized the payment landscape in India.
According to Ministry of Finance estimates, this represents a 45% increase over the previous year, from 11.40 billion transactions in October 2023. With 632 banks connecting to its network, this increase demonstrates UPI's growing dominance in India's payment business.
The success of UPI can be attributed to both a shift in customer behavior and its robust infrastructure. User accessibility and trust in the system have contributed significantly to its widespread popularity.
UPI's arrival into France, as the first European nation to deploy the system, marks a significant milestone. This allows Indian businesses and customers to easily send and receive money worldwide.
Prime Minister Modi has been a staunch backer of UPI's expansion within the BRICS group, which now includes six more nations. This initiative is expected to boost India's global financial status, promote financial inclusion, and strengthen remittance flows.
According to the ACI Worldwide Report 2024, which the Finance Ministry cited, India accounted for over 49% of all real-time payment transactions globally in 2023. This reinforces India's status as a pioneer in digital payment innovation.
