In a surprising turn of events, Mumbai, known as India’s financial capital, is lagging behind in the adoption of financial technology, particularly in terms of intercity payments using the unified payments interface (UPI). This discrepancy was brought to light by a resident of Bengaluru, who found himself having to withdraw cash from ATMs to pay for local transportation in Mumbai. This raises the question of whether UPI has transitioned from being a public good to a public essential. Recent data shows that UPI has surpassed 10 billion monthly transactions for the first time, with transaction values exceeding Rs 15 trillion. UPI’s potential for growth is enormous, with projections suggesting it could reach 20 billion transactions a month within the next 18-24 months. The expansion of UPI’s use-case, including payments for initial public offering and UPI credit, further adds to its potential. To continue this growth trajectory, UPI requires increased investments, particularly in merchant acquisition and scaling payment processing capabilities. Policy decisions that support UPI’s entry barrier for new payment businesses will also be crucial. Currently, two mobile applications, PhonePe and Google Pay, dominate the UPI market, accounting for 80-90% of all transactions. The NPCI had
https://www.bqprime.com/business/upi-payments-10-billion-transactions-a-month-done-next-stop-100-billion