UPI powers ahead as small payments go cashless
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New Delhi: India’s digital payments ecosystem scaled new highs in 2025, led by robust growth in Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions and rising adoption of recurring payment platforms.
UPI processed 228.5 billion transactions during the year, marking a 33 per cent increase over the previous year, while the total transaction value reached Rs. 299.74 trillion, according to a Worldline report. Growth was broad-based across both person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) segments. Merchant transactions remained the key driver, rising 34 per cent to 143.82 billion, reflecting deeper penetration of digital payments among businesses.
The average UPI ticket size declined 9 per cent to Rs. 1,314, while merchant payments saw a sharper drop to Rs. 592, indicating a shift of small, cash-driven transactions into digital modes. Merchant acceptance infrastructure continued to expand, with UPI QR codes growing 15 per cent year-on-year to 731.38 million. Point-of-sale terminals also rose 15 per cent to 11.48 million, even as Bharat QR deployments moderated amid consolidation around UPI. Credit card transactions grew 27 per cent to 5.69 billion, with online spends reaching Rs. 14.53 trillion, while debit card volumes declined 23 per cent as low-value payments migrated to UPI. Bharat BillPay transactions rose 40 per cent to 3.05 billion, with value surging 93 per cent to Rs. 14.84 trn.
