As cash-based businesses return, UPI transaction growth rate slows down
PhonePe & Google Pay slug it out
The months of June and July --- the peak of pandemic in India --- had seen UPI transactions reaching record levels. With mobility restricted, UPI transactions had zoomed. But now after those days of sharp growth, things are a bit quiet.
To be clear, there is a spike in transaction value growth, but growth in adoption of UPI has taken a dip. This is being attributed to cash-based economy returning to business after physical shops have started reopening across the country. In July, the transaction volume grew by 15% on a month-on-month basis. The corresponding number for August is a measly 10%.
For the record, as per the numbers released by the National Payments Corporation of India, UPI transactions for the month of August have been pegged at 3.5 billion, and they are, in total, worth Rs 6.39 lakh crore.
- e-Rupi is India’s voucher-based digital payment system
- Flipkart hives off PhonePe, chips in with $700 million investment - Here's why
- More than 6.1 billion people will use digital payments by 2023
- Google Pay to support UPI payments over NFC in India - Just tap and pay
PhonePe maintains its lead
Among individual digital payments platforms, PhonePe has maintained its lead in the UPI ecosystem in terms of transaction volume and value in August.
PhonePe logged in 1.6 billion transactions worth Rs 3,01,644.80 crore in August. Its archrival Google Pay registered 1.2 billion transactions worth Rs 2,44,453.05 crore. PhonePe's market share in UPI transactions is pegged at 45.64% while Google Pay sits at 34.72%. In July, PhonePe and Google Pay, respectively, had 45.94% and 34.45% market share
Paytm recorded 423.63 million transactions worth Rs 50,021.40 crore, registering a 11.91% share.
WhatsApp's show in the UPI remains lacklustre as it had 0.5 million transactions amounting to Rs 44.70 crore.
Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.
Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.
PhonePe is also the most downloaded fintech app in India in August. It had 9.5 million downloads across Play Store and App Store in August. Google Pay was downloaded 7 million times.
Over three decades as a journalist covering current affairs, politics, sports and now technology. Former Editor of News Today, writer of humour columns across publications and a hardcore cricket and cinema enthusiast. He writes about technology trends and suggest movies and shows to watch on OTT platforms.