NEW DELHI, AUGUST 24: The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has completed a decade of operations with transaction volumes surging nearly 13,000-fold and transaction value rising more than 4,000-fold, cementing its position as the world’s largest real-time payment system by transaction volume and making it a major platform for cross-border digital payments.
Launched on August 25, 2016 by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) under the regulatory oversight of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), UPI processed 1.78 crore transactions in FY2016-17. By FY2025-26, annual transaction volume had crossed 24,162 crore, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 188 per cent.
The value of transactions grew from just Rs 0.07 lakh crore in FY2016-17 to around Rs 314 lakh crore in FY2025-26, recording a CAGR of 155 per cent.
UPI’s growth has continued at scale in 2026. Monthly transactions crossed 2,300 crore for the first time in May, reaching 2,320 crore, while July 2026 recorded a record 2,366 crore transactions, the highest monthly volume in its decade-long history. July also registered a record transaction value of Rs 29.88 lakh crore.
UPI currently processes an average of 66 crore transactions a day. In FY2025-26, it accounted for 84 per cent of India’s digital payment transactions, while its share of global real-time payment volume reached 49 per cent in 2025, according to the figures released to mark its 10-year milestone.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recognised UPI as the world’s largest real-time payment system by transaction volume, highlighting India’s position in building scalable, interoperable and inclusive digital public infrastructure.
What began as a domestic payments innovation has evolved into a global digital payments benchmark. UPI is currently operational in 11 countries—the United Arab Emirates, France, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Singapore, Mauritius, Qatar, Cambodia, Greece and Maldives—and has emerged as a platform for cross-border digital payments.
UPI’s institutional base has also expanded sharply. The number of banks live on the platform rose from 21 at its launch in April 2016 and 44 in FY2016-17, the first year of operations, to 703 banks by FY2025-26 and 741 banks as of July 2026.
The participating institutions include public sector banks, private banks, small finance banks, payment banks and cooperative banks. Each bank operates as a remitter Payment Service Provider (PSP), beneficiary PSP, or both, while NPCI monitors performance metrics across participants.
The platform’s first month of operation, August 2016, recorded just 90,000 transactions, underscoring the scale of its expansion over the past decade.
UPI has become a key pillar of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure, providing an interoperable, real-time platform for peer-to-peer (P2P) and peer-to-merchant (P2M) payments through a single application. The system has become a preferred payment mode for millions of users and is credited with widening access to digital financial services, advancing financial inclusion and enabling broader participation in the digital economy.
The data also show that UPI serves distinct payment needs across consumer and merchant transactions. P2M payments account for 63 per cent of total transaction volume, reflecting extensive use for frequent, low-value retail purchases. By contrast, P2P transactions account for 71 per cent of total transaction value, pointing to their larger role in higher-ticket transfers between individuals.
Micro-payments dominate merchant use of the platform. Of the 24,162 crore UPI transactions recorded in FY2026, 86 per cent of P2M transactions were below Rs 500, highlighting its integration into routine retail and day-to-day commerce.
P2P payments also remain heavily concentrated in smaller transactions, with 59 per cent below Rs 500, while the remaining 41 per cent above Rs 500 reflects the platform’s expanding use for higher-value personal transfers.
The platform registered 30 per cent year-on-year growth in transaction volume and 21 per cent growth in transaction value in 2025-26, according to the data released by NPCI.
UPI’s simultaneous expansion in transaction volume and value has strengthened its role in high-frequency retail payments while retaining capacity for larger fund transfers. Its scale, reliability and interoperability have been cited as key factors behind its domestic adoption and international recognition.
The government has said the next decade of UPI will focus on bringing more users and merchants into the ecosystem and enabling the next phase of UPI-led innovation. The roadmap includes continued policy support, technological advancement and measures aimed at strengthening India’s digital payments ecosystem and further expanding financial inclusion.
The 10-year milestone comes as UPI accounts for nearly half of global real-time payment transaction volume and operates across 11 countries, marking its transition from a domestic payment innovation into one of India’s most prominent digital public infrastructure platforms.
