UPI transactions: UPI hits 16 billion transactions in October setting new record aided by festive spends

Rs 23.5 lakh crore was settled in the month, up 34% year-on-year.

Just the previous month, UPI had crossed the 15 billion transactions landmark. On average, 500 million transactions were settled daily last month. In October, this number went up to 535 million.

On October 30, the day of Dhanteras, 546 million UPI transactions were settled, which is a record for a single day transaction.

Among other payment modes run by NPCI, Fastag, an automated toll payment system, saw 345 million transactions in October, up 8% year-on-year. Interestingly, the bank-based retail fund transfer mechanism IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) saw a decline of 5% year-on-year, reporting 467 million transactions in October. This was higher than September, when 430 million transactions were done.

UPI is becoming the de-facto small-value fund transfer mechanism in the country, with more and more banks joining the ecosystem. NPCI data shows that, as of September, 622 banks are live on the payment network, up from 492 a year back.

Discover the stories of your interest

ET reported on October 24 that NPCI has asked banks and other financial institutions to stop using UPI rails for any other ‘unauthorised’ service beyond payments, balance enquiry, fraud check and account validation.