New Delhi — India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has transformed the country’s digital payments landscape over the past decade, with transaction volumes increasing nearly 12,000 times since its early years, according to an official factsheet released on Monday.
UPI recorded around 2 crore transactions in 2016-17. By 2025-26, the annual transaction volume had surged to more than 24,162 crore, highlighting the rapid adoption of instant digital payments across the country.
The growth in transaction value has been equally striking. The annual value of UPI transactions rose from just Rs 0.07 lakh crore in 2016-17 to nearly Rs 314 lakh crore in 2025-26, representing an increase of more than 4,000 times.
The scale of UPI’s expansion is also evident from its recent monthly performance. In July 2026 alone, the network processed 2,365.8 crore transactions worth Rs 29.87 lakh crore. The UPI ecosystem currently has 741 live banks participating in the network.
Developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI has become one of the most important components of India’s digital payments infrastructure. Its success has also attracted international interest, with the real-time payment platform now accepted in 11 countries.
The latest additions to UPI’s international footprint include Greece and the Maldives, further expanding the reach of India’s home-grown digital payment system.
UPI is currently operational in countries including Bhutan, Nepal, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, France, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Qatar, allowing users to make seamless cross-border digital payments and remittances.
In June 2026, NPCI International Payments Limited partnered with ACLEDA Bank Plc. to introduce UPI acceptance in Cambodia, strengthening India’s digital payment links with Southeast Asia.
Greece has also introduced UPI for cross-border remittances, allowing eligible customers to transfer money between Greece and India through Eurobank.
The Maldives further strengthened its connection with India’s digital payment ecosystem when cross-border remittances between the Maldives Instant Payment System, Favara, and UPI went live on July 30, 2026.
UPI’s influence extends beyond India’s borders. The system accounted for nearly 49 per cent of global real-time payment transaction volume in 2024, an achievement highlighted by the International Monetary Fund in its report, “Growing Retail Digital Payments: The Value of Interoperability.”
The platform has also continued to evolve to make digital payments easier and more accessible. On-device authentication was introduced for UPI in 2025, allowing users to authorise payments using smartphone features such as fingerprints or facial recognition.
Aadhaar-based face authentication has also simplified UPI PIN onboarding, particularly for first-time users, senior citizens and people who may not have easy access to debit or credit cards.
From enabling small everyday payments in India to supporting cross-border remittances, UPI has evolved into a major digital payments platform in just ten years. Its rapid growth reflects both the increasing preference for instant payments among Indian consumers and the expanding global interest in India’s digital public infrastructure.
With inputs from IANS