UPI transactions hit a record high in May 2026, with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) reporting 23.2 billion transactions worth Rs 29.90 lakh crore, up 24 % and 19 % respectively on an annual basis, because of summer travel, IPL 2026, and seasonal consumer spending, as per PTI. The April figures stood at 22.35 billion transactions valued at Rs 29.03 lakh crore.
Looking at the bigger picture, India processed over 200 billion UPI transactions in 2025-26. UPI handled 24.16 billion transactions during the year, up 30% from 18.59 billion the year before. The value of those transactions rose 20.6% to Rs 314.2 lakh crore. UPI now accounts for nearly 86% of all retail payment transactions in the country, according to the latest RBI report
For context: three years ago, that share was closer to 80%.
The big picture on digital payments
Total cashless transactions across all payment systems grew 26.8% in volume during 2025-26. In value terms, all digital payments combined, from large corporate settlements via RTGS to small peer-to-peer UPI transfers, reached Rs 3,251 lakh crore during the year.
Retail digital payments grew 26.9% in volume and 15.1% in value.
NEFT, the bank-to-bank transfer system used for sums too large for UPI, crossed 100 crore transactions for the first time, clocking 1,00,996 lakh transactions worth Rs 502.3 lakh crore.
The RBI’s own Digital Payments Index, which tracks the depth of digital payments adoption using March 2018 as the base, hit 516.76 in September 2025. That is up from 217.74 when the index launched in 2020, and reflects a broad-based shift in how Indians transact, not just growth in one segment.
Half of India still not using digital payments
Despite the headline numbers, the RBI’s own survey tells an interesting bit. The central bank surveyed over 30,000 users and 10,000 merchants across the country during the year. Only 52% of users had adopted digital payments. Speed and convenience were the main reasons cited by those who have. The report also pointed out that adoption of UPI varied significantly across age, income, gender, and location.
Among merchants, 67% said they accepted digital payments, and a majority reported it had a positive effect on business. UPI was the dominant mode for both.
The RBI has been running a programme to ensure every eligible individual in identified districts has access to at least one digital payment option: UPI, debit cards, net banking, mobile banking, or the Aadhaar-enabled payment system. As of March 31, 2026, that target has been met in more than 710 districts, covering over 80% of districts across the country.
Where UPI now works outside India
UPI’s acceptance as a payment method has been growing outside India’s borders. QR-code-based UPI payments for merchants currently live in eight countries: Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the UAE. Coverage varies by country; some have nationwide rollout, others are limited to specific locations.
The bilateral link between UPI and Singapore’s PayNow, which allows real-time remittances between the two countries, has been running since February 2023. Several more country-level tie-ups are in the works. India is also part of Project Nexus, a multilateral initiative to connect fast payment systems across countries.
Infrastructure based on UPI is being built in Namibia and Peru. RuPay, India’s domestic card network, has been deployed in Mauritius and the UAE.
New fraud-fighting tools, and why they’re needed
Fraud in the digital payments space has grown alongside transaction volumes, as per the report. The first phase of the Digital Payment Intelligence Platform (DPIP), a system designed to flag suspicious transactions in real time, has been operational since August 2025. Phase two, which will use artificial intelligence and machine learning to assign risk scores to transactions, is under development and expected to be completed during 2026-27.
A separate tool, MuleHunter.AI, assigns a probability score to bank accounts suspected of being used for money laundering. As of March 31, 2026, it has been deployed in 26 banks, with plans to expand further.
The report also flags a specific category of fraud that has proved hard to stop: authorised push payment fraud, where customers are tricked into initiating transfers themselves despite authentication layers being in place. The RBI stated that it is considering introducing deliberate friction into the payments process to slow down such transactions. No specific measures have been announced yet.
A new regulator, new rules on aggregators
The body that previously oversaw payment systems, the Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems, which was a committee of the RBI’s Central Board, was replaced by an independent Payments Regulatory Board on May 9, 2025. The new board held its first meeting on January 5, 2026, chaired by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra.
New rules for payment aggregators, the companies that process payments between merchants and customers on platforms like e-commerce sites, were also issued during the year. The rules brought all payment aggregation activity, including online, offline, and cross-border transactions, under a single regulatory framework. The RBI authorised 23 new non-bank payment aggregators during the year, bringing the total to 68.
New authentication guidelines were also issued, updating the rules around the additional verification step required before a digital payment goes through. The guidelines also require card issuers to validate this additional step for cross-border card transactions when asked by overseas merchants.
RBI’s payments roadmap through 2028
As per the report, RBI proposes a facility to switch on or switch off specific payment modes through their bank, a framework under which both a payer’s and payee’s bank share responsibility if a fraud occurs, and the possible introduction of electronic cheques.
On cross-border payments, the RBI has said it will continue working to link UPI with fast payment systems in strategic partner countries, to make remittances cheaper and faster.
The report also noted that the RBI has an ambition to give every eligible account holder in every district access to at least one digital payment option.