The transaction value on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) stood at Rs 6.54 lakh crores in September 2021, up by 2x compared to the same month in the previous year, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI). Overall, transaction volumes also increased by 2 times over the last year to 3.65 billion in September. While UPI payment volumes grew by 3% in September 2021 over the previous month, the UPI transaction value went up by 2.4% compared to August 2021.
This steady increase comes after a drastic slump in both metrics in April, given several state-imposed lockdowns due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key observations
1. Increase over September: The number of transactions increased by 98.8 million in September, whereas the total amount transacted went up by Rs 15,235 crores. In the previous month (August 2021), the volume of transactions had increased by 307.7 million and the amount transacted grew by Rs 32,835.9 crores.
2. Average transactions per day: Around 121.8 million transactions were completed and Rs 21,812 crores were transacted on an average per day in September. The average number of transactions per day in September 2021 was the highest till date.
3. Size of transaction: The average amount exchanged per transaction decreased by 2% over the previous month to Rs 1,791. The average amount per transaction fell to its lowest in the past year in November 2020, to Rs 1,769.
4. Banks on UPI service: 10 more banks onboarded UPI payments in September 2021, which brings the total to 259 banks. The nationwide lockdown due to the pandemic began at the end of March 2020 and lasted till mid-May after which relaxations have gradually come into place. It’s possible that more banks began UPI payments due to unprecedented immobility, along with a need to limit human contact, which meant a natural move to digital payments.
Also read:
- UPI Transaction Value Up By 2.1x To Rs 6.39 Lakh Crores In August 2021: NPCI Data
- Government Developing UPI, Health ID Like Digital Ecosystems For Other Sectors, But Privacy Concerns Loom
- A Closer Look At Netflix’s New UPI Autopay Feature And The Rules That Led To It
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