SBI and PNB see an uptake in UPI usages: Will they catch up fintech majors?

Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has been gaining quick market share amongst several other digital modes of money transfer. While fintech companies such as PhonePe, Paytm and Google Tez are witnessing a spurt in the adoption of UPI, nationalised banks such as State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank has also seen an uptake in usages.

India’s largest bank’s UPI product SBI Pay had recorded 193.6 million transactions in January-March quarter as compared to 156.7 million in the previous quarter, reports Medianama citing quarterly report. It witnessed a growth 23.5 in terms of transaction volume during the aforementioned period.

SBI Pay had recorded an impressive growth of 112.76 per cent in terms of transaction value during January-March quarter with its value of transaction pegged at Rs 37,923 crore from Rs 17,824 crore in the previous quarter. With about 56 per cent growth in UPI user base, it had reported 1.84 million users in the quarter ending March.

PNB had about 950,000 users on UPI through BHIM during the same period. It recorded 850,000 UPI users directly through bank application. These numbers were reported by Medianama in a separate piece.

Meanwhile, Yes Bank that powers UPI backbone for Flipkart-owned PhonePe had reported 182.83 million UPI-based transactions of 914.15 million total UPI transactions between March 2017-2018. It reportedly had a 20 per cent market share of overall UPI transaction in FY18.

YES Bank, in partnership with PhonePe, launched India’s first UPI-based mobile payments app in August 2016. Besides, it also claimed to hold 72 per cent market share in UPI merchant payments.

With 33 per cent share in overall UPI transaction during April this year, Paytm claimed the top spot for the month. It had reported 63 million UPI-based transactions during the 30 day period.

Notably, over the past six months, Government-owned UPI product BHIM has been witnessing a sharp decline in usages. In terms of transaction volume, its growth remained flat during September-January period.

While UPI adoption has largely been driven by deep-pocketed fintech companies, the growth of PSU banks in UPI ecosystem is also going up. Going forward, it would be interesting to watch how traditional banks catch up with the likes of Paytm and PhonePe.