UPI Payments
UPI has now become the most used retail fast payment system in India. This information has come out in the recent Payments Systems Report of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). According to the report, the volume of UPI payments will reach 17,221 crore transactions in 2024, whereas it was only 1,079 crore in 2019. At the same time, the total value of transactions also increased from ₹ 18.4 lakh crore in 2019 to ₹ 246.8 lakh crore in 2024.
The number of UPI transactions has increased by 22% last year. Total UPI transactions were 117 crore in the first half of the calendar year 2024, which increased to 143 crore in the first half of 2025. Additionally, the total payment value of UPI also increased by 34.7% to ₹10,637 lakh crore, from ₹7,897.1 lakh crore in H1 CY24.
The Reserve Bank report also said that UPI’s share in total transactions in the first six months of 2025 was 84.8%. According to the report, there are main reasons behind such high usage of UPI. Ease of use, speed and 24-hour availability.
Major Payment Methods
Although UPI leads in the number of transactions, RTGS has the largest share in the value of transactions. UPI transactions constitute only 9.1% of the total value. RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement), which has a minimum transaction value of ₹2 lakh, accounts for 68.7% of the total value, but only 0.1% of the total number of transactions.
NEFT accounts for 3.9% in number of transactions and 15.1% in value. Card payments account for 2.7% of transactions in number and 0.8% in value. Checks account for 0.2% of transactions by number and 2.3% by value.
It is clear from this report that the popularity of UPI is continuously increasing, especially in small and everyday transactions. At the same time, the role of RTGS and NEFT still remains important in large transactions.