The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has completed ten years of transforming digital payments and has emerged as the backbone of India’s digital payments ecosystem. The UPI, which was launched on 25th August 2016, has surged almost 13 thousand fold in transaction volume. The Finance Ministry said that the annual transaction volume expanded from just 1.78 crore transactions in 2016-17 to over 24 thousand 162 crore transactions in 2025-26. The transaction value also rose sharply from seven thousand crore to nearly 314 lakh crore during the same time period. The Ministry said that UPI has also emerged as a global platform for cross-border digital payments and is currently operational in 11 countries. These are United Arab Emirates, France, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Singapore, Mauritius, Qatar, Cambodia, Greece and Maldives.
UPI has emerged as one of the most successful pillars of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure, providing an interoperable, real-time payments platform. Today, it is the preferred mode of payment for millions of users, transforming the way India transacts. By bridging the digital divide, advancing financial inclusion, and expanding access to digital financial services, UPI has empowered individuals and communities across the country while driving broad-based economic participation. The unprecedented scale and reliability achieved by UPI have received global recognition. It said, the International Monetary Fund has acknowledged it as the world’s largest real‑time payment system. As of 2025, UPI accounts for nearly 49 per cent of the world’s real-time payment transaction volume.
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