UPI transactions near record level of ₹29.8 lakh crore in August

Unified Payments Interface transactions nearly reached record levels in August, with a total value of ₹29.82 lakh crore, according to data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The volume of UPI transactions also set a new high, reaching 24.51 billion in August, up from 23.66 billion in July. This marks a 20% year-over-year increase in transaction value and a 22% rise in transaction volume compared to August 2025.

The NPCI, which operates UPI under the oversight of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA), reported that the growth in August was partly driven by festive activities such as Raksha Bandhan. The surge in peer-to-peer transfers and small-ticket gifting contributed to the increased volume. Over the past three months, the consistent rise in both transaction value and volume highlights the expanding reach of the UPI ecosystem.

Reeju Datta, co-founder of Cashfree Payments, noted that the festive season typically boosts UPI usage and expressed optimism about future growth as new use cases, such as credit on UPI, begin to take shape. Deepak Chand Thakur, co-founder and CEO of Network People Services Technologies (NPST), emphasized the importance of investing in resilient and intelligent infrastructure to maintain India’s leadership in digital payments, particularly as the festive season approaches.

UPI’s international footprint continues to grow, now available in 11 countries. Uzbekistan became the latest addition, joining Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Bhutan, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Greece. Since its launch on August 25, 2016, UPI has transformed India’s digital payments landscape, with transaction values rising from ₹0.07 lakh crore in the fiscal year 2017 to approximately ₹314 lakh crore in the fiscal year 2026—a more than 4,000-fold increase over the past decade.

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