A new first for India's UPI: Transactions surge 34% to cross 20 bn-mark in August

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), on Monday announced that the platform recorded a new high of 20 billion transactions in August 2025, up from 19.47 billion in July.

In a post on X, the NPCI highlighted the milestone, noting that UPI transactions in August saw a 34% year-on-year (YoY) growth, reflecting the continued surge in digital payment adoption across the country.

Empowering your financial transactions with easy, safe & instant money transfers through UPI. Time to stay #AlwaysForward. #UPI #DigitalPayments@GoI_MeitY I @_DigitalIndia I @RBI I @dilipasbe I @UPI_NPCI pic.twitter.com/dyQduszXjX

— NPCI (@NPCI_NPCI) September 1, 2025

The NPCI also reported that UPI transactions in August were valued at Rs 24.85 lakh crore, slightly lower than Rs 25.08 lakh crore in July. However, this still represents a 21% year-on-year (YoY) increase, compared to August last year.

On average, 645 million transactions were processed daily through UPI in August, with a daily transaction value of Rs 80,177 crore.

Notably, the Centre has set a target of 1 billion (100 crore) daily UPI transactions, a milestone the platform is on track to reach by next year if the current growth trend continues.

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Akash Sinha, CEO and Co-founder of Cashfree Payments, told Mint that crossing 20 billion UPI transactions in a single month is “more than a milestone for India.”

He said the achievement underscores how digital payments have become the backbone of the country’s economic progress.

Mohit Bedi, Co-founder of payments platform Kiwi, called India’s UPI journey “extraordinary,” highlighting how it has emerged as the default payment method for both consumers and businesses, reported Mint.

In June 2025, the platform recorded 18.40 billion transactions with a transaction value of Rs. 24.04 lakh crore.

Although the monthly figures were lower compared to July and August, the steady rise shows a clear upward trajectory in digital payment adoption, reported ANI.

Overall, the data reflects continuous growth in UPI usage, both in terms of transaction count and value.

According to ANI, citing a report by the State Bank of India released last month, UPI has expanded sharply this year, both in terms of value and volumes. In terms of value, the report highlighted that average daily transactions rose from Rs 75,743 crore in January to Rs 80,919 crore in July, added the report.

This steady growth highlights the deepening reliance on UPI for payments across the country.

The report stated, “UPI transactions have expanded significantly both in value and volumes”.
This clearly showed the fact that more and more Indians are using UPI for everyday payments, from small transfers to high-value transactions.

The SBI report also provided insights into the leading banks driving the UPI ecosystem. State Bank of India emerged as the top remitter member, handling 5.2 billion transactions.

SBI’s share was almost 3.4 times larger than the second-biggest remitter member, showcasing the dominance of public sector banks in this category.

On the other hand, Yes Bank took the top position as the leading beneficiary member, with nearly 8.0 billion transactions. The trend indicates that while PSBs dominate as remitters, private banks are taking the lead in receiving payments.

Maharashtra has emerged as the number one state in UPI usage, accounting for a 9.8 per cent share in July alone. Karnataka followed with 5.5 per cent, while Uttar Pradesh stood close at 5.3 per cent.

Notably, Uttar Pradesh is the only north Indian state among the top five, underlining the growing penetration of digital payments beyond traditional strongholds.

With inputs from agencies