Unified Payments Interface Accounts for 49 Per Cent of Global Real-Time Transactions

New Delhi: The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been recognised as the world’s largest retail fast-payment system by transaction volume, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) report titled ‘Growing Retail Digital Payments (The Value of Interoperability)’, released in June 2025.

As per the IMF assessment, the Unified Payments Interface has emerged as the leading real-time payment system globally.

This recognition is further supported by the ACI Worldwide report ‘Prime Time for Real-Time’ 2024, which states that UPI accounts for approximately 49% of the global real-time payment system transaction volume.

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Unified Payments Interface Dominates Global Real-Time Payments Landscape

The reports highlight UPI’s growing scale and interoperability, positioning it ahead of other international real-time payment platforms in terms of transaction volume.

Comparative data presented in the studies outlines UPI’s current market standing against leading global fast-payment systems.

To promote wider adoption of digital payments, including the Unified Payments Interface, the Government of India, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have undertaken multiple initiatives.

These include incentive schemes aimed at promoting low-value BHIM-UPI transactions and the establishment of the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF).

The PIDF provides grant support to banks and fintech companies for deploying digital payment infrastructure such as Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals and QR codes, particularly across tier-3 to tier-6 centres.

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As of October 31, 2025, around 5.45 crore digital touch points have been deployed in these regions through PIDF support.

Additionally, during FY 2024–25, approximately 56.86 crore QR codes were deployed, covering nearly 6.5 crore merchants across the country.

Beyond merchant payments, the Government, RBI, and NPCI continue to expand the use of RuPay and UPI across sectors such as public services, transportation systems, and e-commerce platforms, further deepening the nationwide adoption of digital transactions.

UPI’s status against other leading international real-time payment platforms

Source: ACI Worldwide report on ‘Prime Time for Real-Time’ 2024

This information was given by the Minister of State (Finance) Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Monday December 8, 2025.