UPI sets new record in June: Processes 1.34 Bn transactions worth Rs 2.6 Tn

Most sectors have been grappling to regain their lost business because of the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown imposed to counter its spread and it will take months for them to reach their pre-Covid-19 peak. But the digital payments sector has bounced back in very little time. 

Data released by NPCI for June shows it was UPI’s best-ever month in terms of volume and value, setting a new record with 1336.93 million ~ 1.34 billion transactions worth Rs 261,835 crore or Rs 2.61 trillion. This is a new milestone for the NPCI-regulated entity since its inception in 2016.

The previous record stood at 1325 million transactions worth Rs 222,516.95 crore or Rs 2.22 trillion which came in February 2020.

According to the Reserve Bank of India data on payments system, UPI had already crossed 663 million transactions in the first 15 days in June amounting to Rs 1,34,934.76 crore. Interestingly, the frequency of transactions remained almost parallel in the latter half of the month.

UPI has been on the recovery mode after a fall in transactions in March and April or during the initial phases of the nationwide lockdown. The rapid surge in volume and value was expected after the relaxation and experts tracking the space say that UPI will continue to grow in the coming months.

The lead UPI-based payments apps - Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm and Amazon Pay - have been controlling more than 90% market share in overall transactions.

While the app-wise breakup data of June is awaited, in May, Google Pay recorded 541 million transactions followed by PhonePe with 444 million, Paytm with 124 million and Amazon Pay with 60 million. In the previous month, Google Pay’s volume stood at 430 million while PhonePe, Paytm and Amazon had done 365 million and 125 million respectively.