New Delhi :The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which has transformed the way Indians make digital payments, is set to complete a decade of operations on August 25, marking 10 years of rapid growth that has positioned it as a global leader in real-time 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 has emerged as a backbone of India’s digital payments ecosystem and an important driver of financial inclusion.
The scale of UPI’s growth over the past decade has been unprecedented. Annual transaction volume increased from 1.78 crore transactions in FY 2016-17 to more than 24,162 crore in FY 2025-26, representing an almost 13,000-fold increase.
Transaction value has also surged from ₹0.07 lakh crore in FY 2016-17 to around ₹314 lakh crore in FY 2025-26, marking an increase of more than 4,000 times.
UPI’s expansion has been accompanied by a sharp increase in institutional participation. The number of banks live on the platform rose from 44 in FY 2016-17 to 703 by FY 2025-26, while the number stood at 741 banks as of July 2026.
The platform has increasingly become embedded in everyday transactions, particularly small-value retail payments. In FY 2025-26, UPI accounted for 84 per cent of India’s digital payments, reflecting its dominant position in the country’s retail digital payment ecosystem.
The year 2026 has marked another milestone for the platform. Monthly transaction volumes crossed 2,300 crore for the first time in May, when UPI processed 2,320 crore transactions. The momentum continued, with July 2026 recording a record 2,366 crore transactions, valued at approximately ₹29.88 lakh crore.
UPI is also playing a significant role in merchant payments. Person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions accounted for around 63 per cent of total transaction volume, highlighting the platform’s extensive use for frequent, low-value retail payments. In contrast, person-to-person (P2P) transactions accounted for around 71 per cent of transaction value, indicating their greater role in higher-value transfers.
Small-ticket payments continue to dominate UPI usage. Around 86 per cent of P2M transactions were below ₹500 in FY 2025-26, demonstrating how deeply UPI has become integrated into everyday purchases. Among P2P transactions, 59 per cent were below ₹500, while 41 per cent were above that threshold.
The growth of UPI has also attracted international recognition. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recognised UPI as the world’s largest real-time payment system by transaction volume. UPI accounted for nearly 49 per cent of global real-time payment transaction volume in 2025, according to the government.
With an average of around 66 crore transactions being processed daily in 2026, UPI has evolved from a domestic payments platform into an important component of India’s digital public infrastructure.
Its international footprint has expanded as well. UPI is currently operational in 11 countries—the United Arab Emirates, France, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Singapore, Mauritius, Qatar, Cambodia, Greece and the Maldives—strengthening its role in cross-border digital payments.
The platform has helped expand access to digital financial services by enabling interoperable, real-time peer-to-peer and peer-to-merchant payments through a common interface. Its widespread adoption has also helped bridge gaps in access to formal digital payment systems, particularly for small merchants and consumers.
As UPI enters its second decade, the focus is expected to shift towards bringing more users and merchants into the digital payments ecosystem, strengthening technological capabilities, expanding financial inclusion and supporting further cross-border integration.
What began in 2016 with a small network of participating banks and just 90,000 transactions in its first month has grown into a payments infrastructure processing billions of transactions every month. The decade-long journey has established UPI as one of India’s most prominent examples of digital public infrastructure and a globally recognised model for real-time payments. PIB
