UPI transactions by value touched an all-time high of 6.06 lakh crore in July, surpassing the previous record of 5.47 lakh crore in June and over 2.91 lakh crore a year ago. On the other hand, card spend in July stood at 1.36 lakh crore, the highest since April and increased from Rs 95,883 crore in the previous year as the economy improved.
The UPI platform saw a jump of 109% as consumers made digital payments for daily essentials at local stores as well as for premium purchases.
Riyaz Amlani, CEO of the company said, “We are seeing that most of the online payments are being done through the UPI platform and apps like Cred. impresario Handmade restaurant.
Impresario Social runs the Smoke House Deli and Salt Water Cafe chains. Amlani said UPI adoption is on the rise as the average order value at outlets has increased by 20% after the second wave of the pandemic.
Officials said that while the economy is showing signs of recovery, there has been an increase in discretionary spending using cards, but it may not match UPI. Digital payments made on wallet and UPI platforms by volume grew to around 3.25 billion in July from 1.5 billion a year ago. The number of payments using the card stood at 520 million compared to 450 million a year ago.
Amit Dutta, Chief Executive, Le Marche Retail, said the premium grocery chain has seen a trend in in-store as well as domestic transactions. “UPI payments are showing increased traction in the last one year, with the convenience and transaction being contactless, as compared to card swiping, where there are more contact points,” he said. Consumers weren’t already comfortable UPI Payment He has overcome his initial hesitation, said Dutta.
bank officials said card payment Even though UPI platforms are growing rapidly.
“UPI growth rate will surpass that of cards and will include both peer-to-peer and merchant payments,” said Sanjeev Moghe, Axis Bank head for cards and payments. “The cards are only for payment to merchants. As long as the card segment is growing at over 30-40%, it is quite healthy.”
Its director Nilesh Gupta said UPI, payment platform and wallet sales accounted for 10-15% of major electronics retail chain Vijay Sales, which was almost zero a year ago. “Consumers are also buying high-ticket items through such methods. These platforms often offer cashback incentives to lure customers.”
digital adoption
The government and RBI are focusing on facilitating digital adoption by enhancing the acceptance infrastructure and introducing innovative payment options to deepen the reach of the payment system.
Prem Kumar, founder, Ratan Tata-backed retail tech company SnapBizz, said, “Riding on convenience, instant credit and contactless transactions for three reasons, UPI transactions have moved the needle significantly for neighborhood grocery stores in the last 12-15 months. transferred to.” Creates technology for more than 30,000 grocery stores and handles more than $1 billion in business transactions a year.
The RBI, in its latest annual report, said efforts are being made to ensure smooth functioning of all payment systems despite disruption in movement and access to infrastructure due to the COVID-19 lockdown, with varying intensity and duration at different locations in the country. was also directed.
Remittances also made a major contribution to the UPI volume. Ria Money Transfer Country Manager India Emil Ruban said that once all banks develop systems to support inward remittances on the UPI platform, the platform is expected to see more traction. “Many banks have not yet developed cross-border money transfer facilities,” he said.
A report by Euromonitor said that this trend is expected to continue with increasing acceptance of UPI. Euromonitor advisor Vishnu Vardhan said, “A large number of consumers started using UPI transactions for daily shopping activities, especially at local retail stores, with the outbreak of the pandemic.”