Did UPI Transactions Exceed 20 Billion for the First Time in August?

New Delhi, Sep 1 (NationPress) In an extraordinary achievement, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has surpassed the 20 billion transaction milestone in August for the very first time, as reported by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Monday.

For August, UPI transactions soared to 20.01 billion, marking a 2.8 percent increase from July's 19.47 billion. Year-over-year, this represents a remarkable 34 percent growth.

In terms of monetary value, UPI transactions reached an impressive Rs 24.85 lakh crore in August, reflecting a 24 percent increase compared to the same month last year.

The average daily transaction volume also saw a rise, hitting 645 million (up from 628 million in July), with the average daily transaction value at Rs 80,177 crore, according to NPCI data.

Earlier, on August 2, UPI set a record by exceeding 700 million transactions in a single day.

This remarkable growth comes amidst a backdrop of steady progress over the preceding months, even with the prohibition on real money gaming platforms.

In June, UPI recorded 18.40 billion transactions valued at Rs 24.04 lakh crore. The subsequent month saw a sharp rise to 19.47 billion transactions, a 5.8 percent increase from June, with a transaction value that climbed to Rs 25.08 lakh crore.

As per recent findings from SBI Research, Maharashtra has been a consistent leader in digital payments, commanding a 9.8 percent share in July, followed by Karnataka with 5.5 percent and Uttar Pradesh at 5.3 percent.

“The proportion of peer-to-merchant (P2M) transactions in total value has surged from just 13 percent in June 2020 to 29 percent by July 2025. In terms of volume, the percentage increased from 39 percent to 64 percent, highlighting the robust expansion in digital payments and financial inclusion,” the report stated.

Digital payments, spearheaded by UPI, are advancing rapidly, far exceeding the cash in circulation (CIC) figures. The average monthly UPI transactions are at Rs 24,554 billion, while the CIC monthly average growth stands at Rs 193 billion during April-July 2025.

Currently, there are nearly 300 major merchant category codes, whereas NPCI commenced with only 29 major MCCs. The top 15 merchant categories account for 70 percent in volume and 47 percent in value as of July 2025.

Transactions related to groceries constitute 24.3 percent of the total, with a value share of 8.8 percent, while debt collection agencies hold a 12.8 percent value share but only 1.3 percent in volume, according to the SBI report.