UPI ushering digital payment revolution in India

The enormous success that UPI has witnessed could be measured from the fact that 7,404 crore transactions for Rs 125 lakh-crore were carried out in 2022.

New Delhi, Jan 3: "I like how you've brought out the rising popularity of UPI. I laud my fellow Indians for embracing digital payments! They've shown remarkable adaptability to tech and innovation." These are the exact words from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a Twitter user who shared the marvellous success story of UPI in India. PM Modi is happy as it was his idea that has made a grand success and taking India to the league where even developed economies dream to reach.

Needless to say UPI has made a major contribution in ushering in the digital payment revolution in India. A country which has been called 'backward' by Congress leaders, where people are illiterate and cannot do smart phone transactions according to former finance minister P. Chidambaram, people have embraced UPI like hotcakes.

High volume of transactions

UPI crossed 7.82 billion transactions worth Rs 12.82 trillion by the end of December 2022. Yes, this is the number that shows how far UPI has come in India. Not just that this digital payment platform enables fast interbank transactions in India, it has reached Singapore and UAE as well. Now, people travelling to Singapore and UAE can use UPI. This is solving the scarcity of payment options due to currency conversion issues and non-availability of international credit or debit cards.

The enormous success that UPI has witnessed could be measured from the fact that 7,404 crore transactions for Rs 125 lakh-crore were carried out in 2022. From the humble beginning at transactions of just Rs 38 lakh in July 2016 to Rs 12.8 lakh-crore UPI transactions in December 2022, there is a lot of story to tell how India has transformed over these years.

India leads the world in digital transactions

India which still according to some colonial mind-set intellectuals is a third world country, has shown how it is agile and adaptive to the new technology. There were early doubters not just in India but in other parts of the world who had questioned the whole idea of India accepting digital payment technology. They have now been silenced with the huge success of UPI.

Today, according to Ravisutanjani, India leads 40-45% of real time digital transactions in the world where India processed more number of real time transactions than China, US and UK combined.

Last but not the least, the NPCI has also launched its wholly-owned subsidiary NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL). With NIPL, India has ventured into international markets to co-create payment systems with participating nations and help them grow along.