UPI Transactions Hit New Record In January

The United Payments Interface (UPI) transactions were at a record high in January 2019 and crossing Rs 1 lakh crore in value according to data released by NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India).

In terms of transactions, the volume grew by 8.5 percent to Rs 1.09 lakh crore in January as against Rs 1.02 lakh in the month before. In December 2018, UPI transactions had crossed over 600 million for the first time ever.

NPCI is an umbrella organisation that helps in the retail payments and settlement of transactions in India. Owned by a consortium of major Indian banks, it is promoted by the RBI (Reserve Bank of India).

In 2016, the UPI platform was introduced by the NPCI as a platform that allows instant real-time payments between two bank accounts using a mobile application. It allows linking multiple bank accounts of a user to a single app.

The BHIM app was launched by the Government of India to boost UPI transactions with attractive offers. In January, 13.98 million of the total transactions using UPI were conducted on BHIM alone.

The UPI 2.0 version was launched in August 2018. In the last one year, UPI transactions have seen a 350 percent increase.