Digital Payments Soar in India: UPI Tops Volume, RTGS Leads Value
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 23rd Oct: Digital payment transactions accounted for 99.7% of all payment volumes and 97.5% of the value in India during 2024, a trend that continued into the first half of 2025, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Half-Yearly Payment System Report, June 2025.
The report highlighted the rapid expansion of India’s payments ecosystem, which includes paper-based instruments like cheques and digital payment systems such as NEFT, IMPS, RTGS, NACH, debit and credit cards, prepaid instruments, and UPI. Cheques now account for just 2.3% of transaction value.
Total payment transaction volumes increased from 3,248 crore in 2019 to 20,849 crore in 2024, while transaction value rose from ₹1,775 lakh crore to ₹2,830 lakh crore. In the first half of 2025 alone, volumes reached 12,549 crore, worth ₹1,572 lakh crore.
UPI accounted for the largest share in volume, 85% in H1 2025, though only 9% of total transaction value due to its low-value payments. Conversely, RTGS, used mainly for high-value wholesale payments above ₹2 lakh, accounted for 69% of transaction value but only 0.1% in volume. RTGS volumes rose from 14.8 crore in 2019 to 29.5 crore in 2024, with a value increase from ₹1,388.7 lakh crore to ₹1,938.2 lakh crore. H1 2025 alone saw 16.1 crore RTGS transactions totaling ₹1,079.2 lakh crore.
NEFT transactions more than tripled in volume between 2019 and 2024, from 262.2 crore to 926.8 crore, with value growing from ₹232.9 lakh crore to ₹432.8 lakh crore. H1 2025 already recorded 490.5 crore NEFT transactions worth ₹237 lakh crore.
UPI has emerged as India’s most widely used retail fast payment system due to its efficiency and 24/7 availability. Transaction volume surged from 1,079 crore in 2019 to 17,221 crore in 2024, with total value rising from ₹18.4 lakh crore to ₹246.8 lakh crore. In H1 2025, UPI recorded 10,637 crore transactions worth ₹143.3 lakh crore.
Credit card transactions have also risen significantly, with volumes increasing from 208.7 crore in 2019 to 447.2 crore in 2024, and value from ₹7.1 lakh crore to ₹20.4 lakh crore. H1 2025 saw 266.3 crore transactions worth ₹11.1 lakh crore. Private banks dominate credit cards, increasing market share to 70.8% by June 2025, while foreign banks’ share fell to 4.1%. Small Finance Banks issued 10 lakh cards by mid-2025.
Debit card usage has declined, as online digital payments increasingly replace traditional cash withdrawals and basic transactions.
The report underscores India’s shift to a predominantly digital payment ecosystem, with UPI leading in volume and RTGS in high-value transactions, reflecting the country’s growing digital financial infrastructure.
