ENA Economy 2025-07-21 14:14:16 <p><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>New Delhi, July 21 (KNN)</strong> India has become the worlds leader in real-time digital payments, propelled by the rapid adoption and expansion of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), according to a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) note titled Growing Retail Digital Payments: The Value of Interoperability.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Launched in 2016 by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI has revolutionised the countrys payment landscape by enabling instant, seamless transactions between bank accounts via mobile apps. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Its success lies in its simplicity, interoperability, and affordability, transforming India into a digital-first economy.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">According to the Press Information Bureau (PIB), UPI now processes over 18 billion transactions each month, handling payments worth more than Rs 24.03 lakh crore in June 2025 alone. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">This marks a 32 percent rise in transaction volume compared to June 2024. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">UPI currently serves 491 million users and 65 million merchants, connecting 675 banks on a unified platform. It accounts for 85 percent of all digital payments in India.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px"> This shift has taken India away from cash and card-based payments and pushed it towards a digital-first economy. Millions of individuals and small businesses now rely on UPI for safe and low-cost transactions. By making payments quick and accessible, UPI has become a powerful tool for financial inclusion, Press Information Bureau (PIB) said in its backgrounders series on Sunday.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">The impact of UPI extends well beyond Indias borders. The system is currently operational in seven countries&mdash;UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, and Mauritius&mdash;offering Indian travellers and residents a seamless payment option abroad. Its debut in France marks UPIs first footprint in Europe.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">According to the PIB backgrounder, India is also pushing for UPI to become a standard within the BRICS group, which now has six new member nations. If this happens, it will improve remittances, boost financial inclusion and raise India's profile as a global tech leader in digital payments, it said.</span></p> <p><em><strong><span style="font-size:14px">(KNN Bureau)</span></strong></em></p> 42882 https://knnindia.co.in/news/newsdetails/economy/india-tops-global-digital-payments-with-upi-processing-18-bn-transactions-monthly 2025-07-21 14:14:16 knnindia.co.in