MUMBAI: The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Shaktikanta Das said by payments on Monday UPI (unified payment interface) has grown exponentially over the past 12 months, with daily transactions reaching 36 million, up 50 percent from 24 million in February 2022.
In terms of value, these transactions amount to Rs 6.27 crore, a 17 percent increase from Rs 5.36 crore in February 2022, the governor told reporters while inaugurating the Digital Payments Awareness Week. RBI headquarters here this afternoon.
He also said that monthly digital payment transactions have crossed Rs 1,000 crore every month for the past three months.
“Our payment systems are discussed globally and several countries have shown interest in replicating our success story. It is a matter of pride that our payment systems have witnessed over 1,000 million monthly transactions since December 2022. This demonstrates the robustness of our payment systems, payments ecosystem and consumer acceptance. The recent a pan-India digital payments survey (covering 90,000 respondents) found that 42 percent of respondents used digital payments,” said Das.
Quantity by volume UPI transactions 800 million in January 2023, while NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) witnessed a daily peak of 3.18 million transactions on February 28.
UPI was launched in 2016 and since then it has emerged as the most popular and preferred mode of payment with person-to-person and person-to-merchant transactions accounting for 75 percent of total digital payments.
The volume of UPI transactions has increased manifold from 0.45 million in January 2017 to 804 million in January 2023. The value of UPI transactions increased from just Rs 1,700 crore to Rs 12.98 crore during the same period.
In the tokenization exercise, he said RBI has generated more than 48 million card tokens that have processed more than 86 million transactions, making it the largest tokenization exercise in the world. Tokenized transactions have grown from 35 percent initially to 62 percent of the ecosystem.
The customer-friendly recurring mandate system has helped increase the number of e-mandates from around Rs 2-3 crore earlier or costing Rs 130 crore to around 15 crore or Rs 1,700 crore now.
Adoption of digital payments infrastructure increased from 17 million touch points to 26 million touch points, a 53 percent increase.
The Governor also launched the ‘Har payment digital’ mission to strengthen RBI’s commitment to deepen digital payments in the country.
UPI can be used for retail outlets, kirans, street vendors, etc. increasing efficiency in terms of reducing waiting time at toll booths, transferring toll payments to the digital mode, said the akim of the region.
The National Automated Clearing House (NACH) system will also digitally facilitate Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payments, eliminating leakages in the system.
Das further said that RBI has decided to host 75 villages by engaging village-level entrepreneurs as part of its 75 Digital Village programme. Under this program, CSOs will adopt 75 villages and turn them into digital payment-capable villages.
Speaking at the same event marking the 18th anniversary of the Department of Payments and Settlement Systems under the RBI, Deputy Governor Rabi Sankar, who heads the department, said that digital payments have grown by 15 percent annually in the last five years.
Financial formalization of the economy is imperative as money is the backbone of any economy, Sankar said, adding that RBI’s Digital Vision 2025 (when the department turns 20) is to enable digital payments to everyone, everywhere, anytime.
In terms of value, these transactions amount to Rs 6.27 crore, a 17 percent increase from Rs 5.36 crore in February 2022, the governor told reporters while inaugurating the Digital Payments Awareness Week. RBI headquarters here this afternoon.
He also said that monthly digital payment transactions have crossed Rs 1,000 crore every month for the past three months.
“Our payment systems are discussed globally and several countries have shown interest in replicating our success story. It is a matter of pride that our payment systems have witnessed over 1,000 million monthly transactions since December 2022. This demonstrates the robustness of our payment systems, payments ecosystem and consumer acceptance. The recent a pan-India digital payments survey (covering 90,000 respondents) found that 42 percent of respondents used digital payments,” said Das.
Quantity by volume UPI transactions 800 million in January 2023, while NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) witnessed a daily peak of 3.18 million transactions on February 28.
UPI was launched in 2016 and since then it has emerged as the most popular and preferred mode of payment with person-to-person and person-to-merchant transactions accounting for 75 percent of total digital payments.
The volume of UPI transactions has increased manifold from 0.45 million in January 2017 to 804 million in January 2023. The value of UPI transactions increased from just Rs 1,700 crore to Rs 12.98 crore during the same period.
In the tokenization exercise, he said RBI has generated more than 48 million card tokens that have processed more than 86 million transactions, making it the largest tokenization exercise in the world. Tokenized transactions have grown from 35 percent initially to 62 percent of the ecosystem.
The customer-friendly recurring mandate system has helped increase the number of e-mandates from around Rs 2-3 crore earlier or costing Rs 130 crore to around 15 crore or Rs 1,700 crore now.
Adoption of digital payments infrastructure increased from 17 million touch points to 26 million touch points, a 53 percent increase.
The Governor also launched the ‘Har payment digital’ mission to strengthen RBI’s commitment to deepen digital payments in the country.
UPI can be used for retail outlets, kirans, street vendors, etc. increasing efficiency in terms of reducing waiting time at toll booths, transferring toll payments to the digital mode, said the akim of the region.
The National Automated Clearing House (NACH) system will also digitally facilitate Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payments, eliminating leakages in the system.
Das further said that RBI has decided to host 75 villages by engaging village-level entrepreneurs as part of its 75 Digital Village programme. Under this program, CSOs will adopt 75 villages and turn them into digital payment-capable villages.
Speaking at the same event marking the 18th anniversary of the Department of Payments and Settlement Systems under the RBI, Deputy Governor Rabi Sankar, who heads the department, said that digital payments have grown by 15 percent annually in the last five years.
Financial formalization of the economy is imperative as money is the backbone of any economy, Sankar said, adding that RBI’s Digital Vision 2025 (when the department turns 20) is to enable digital payments to everyone, everywhere, anytime.
