UPI crosses 950 million transaction mark in September

After four-month stagnancy, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been able to recover in the past three months and set new records during the period in terms of volume as well as value.

In August, UPI for the first time crossed 900 million transaction volume mark. The NPCI-owned digital payments railroad has reached another milestone as it recorded 955.02 million volume worth Rs 1,61,456.56 crore in September.

Since its inception, UPI has not crossed the figure mentioned above in a month.

On the comparison front, this is an increase of 4% in volume and a 4.5% rise in the value of the transaction from August.

Meanwhile, government-promoted BHIM has once again failed to meet the expectation. BHIM's volume registered a little hike from 16.89 million in August to 17.18 million in September, whereas the value decreased from Rs 6,132.10 crore in August to Rs 5,924.15 crore in September.

While several existing and new players are trying to grab more market share in the UPI ecosystem, the fresh recommendations by NPCI have become a matter of concern for top players.

According to minutes of recommendations passed by NPCI, the steering committee has decided to cap market share to a maximum of 33%. The move will end the fight for commanding more market share among the leading UPI-based payments apps such as Google Pay and PhonePe.

The recommendations are likely to get implemented by April 2020.

While Google Pay and PhonePe have been leading the UPI ecosystem, Paytm has shifted its focus from peer-to-peer payments to UPI-based merchant payments. Of late, BharatPe has emerged as the fastest-growing player in merchant payments.

Last month, media reports suggested that NPCI members have reportedly given the nod to a proposal for incentivising digital payments via QR code on UPI. It means consumers and merchants can get tax benefits upon sharing their PAN and GSTIN details.