In the past few years, a considerable growth in digital payments in India has been observed. Despite the crippling effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, a staggering figure of 38.8bn real time digital transactions (UPI) were recorded in 2021 alone, which is up from 18.8 bn in 2020 (https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/upi/product-statistics)
The spike in digital payments can be attributed to the entry of host of new players in the payment ecosystem, gaining popularity of the UPI platforms, technology penetration to grassroots, growing digital payment preferences of the customers and initiatives taken to promote cashless society.
Globally, India stands as the top user of real-time payments. According to the report by ACI Worldwide, India occupied the top spot with 25.5 billion real-time payments transactions, followed by China with 15.7bn transactions last financial year. (https://government.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/digital-payments/india-beats-china-with-25-5-bn-digital-payment-transactions-in-2020/81779116)
Although cash continues to hold dominance in the payment landscape, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on digital payment adoption can hardly be ruled out. Restrictions on movements, coupled with the need to adhere to social distancing norms, have made touch-less payment preferred choice of all. Today almost all modes of digital payments, including UPI, IMPS, RTGS & NEFT are witnessing a remarkable increase.
It’s interesting to note that out of all the above mentioned digital payment methods, UPI has witnessed the sharpest growth trend in terms of transaction volumes and value. According to latest data from The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) generated 4.56 billion transactions worth Rs.8.26 trillion in December 2021, breaking all previous records both in transaction volume and value. Comparing on a year–on–year basis, in Dec 2021 the volume of transactions more than doubled, while the value of transactions reported nearly 99 per cent growth.
(https://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/upi-ends-calendar-year-2021-with-record-high-transactions-in-dec-122010100411_1.html)
Looking at the growing digital lifestyle of consumers, it would be hard to contradict that digital payments and digital banking will gain more leverage in the coming days. The convenient and inexpensive payment mechanisms like QR code authentication (Bharat QR) and contact less mobility cards are likely to spearhead the digitization drive in India.
Constant innovation and technology development in the payments industry coupled with greater endeavors by the bankers and payment players to create a secure and more resilient payment infrastructure is fuelling the digital drive. Even the un-banked section of people is being tapped into, bringing them to the mainstream financial net. Furthermore, the Government initiatives of JAM trinity (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) and e-Rupi digital vouchers are not merely serving as direct benefit transfer schemes but also as tools pushing up the levels of financial inclusions.
Mindgate –The change leader in payment technology
Mindgate has been at the forefront of the payments revolution from its inception, an outlook that has made us a key global player in payments technology and transaction processing. From building new generation payment gateway to mobile-based collections and payments platforms like Real-Time Payment (RTP)&UPI(in India), we’ve been the leaders in the payment space. Currently, we are processing 100mn transactions per day, with over 2 billion RTP transactions per month.
With ACI Worldwide, a global leader in banking technology, as our strategic partner, we plan to capitalize on growth opportunities and provide the world’s leading real time payments solutions to banks, corporate, merchants and payment intermediaries. We are on our way to creating a mark in new markets across 80+ countries. Adopting high-end technology, custom-centric workflows and out-of-the-box capabilities, we aim to deliver solutions that provide a rich, new-age banking experience.
Know more: https://www.mindgate.solutions/real-time-payments/
Reach us: sales@mindgate.in
