UPI Leads Volumes, RTGS Leads Values as Digital Payments Mature

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TL; DR: RBI’s latest Payments System Report shows India’s digital payments maturing. UPI leads in volume, RTGS in value. UPI growth is flattening, RTGS ticket size is rising, but below pre-COVID levels.

Context:
The Reserve Bank of India’s latest Payments System Report offers a comprehensive look at how India’s payments ecosystem is transforming not just in numbers, but also in direction. It offers a data-rich look into how Indians are paying, transacting, and moving money. UPI continues to dominate the digital payments landscape, accounting for the majority of retail digital transactions. Yet, the pace of its growth appears to be flattening, suggesting that India may be entering a new, more mature phase of digital adoption.

This story unpacks these trends on transaction volumes and values using data from the recently released RBI’s Payments System Report.

Who compiles this data?
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the primary body responsible for compiling, analysing, and publishing payments data in India. It oversees the entire payments ecosystem, including UPI, NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, cards, wallets, and other retail payment systems.

Where can I download clean & structured data about payment system indicators?
Clean, structured, and ready-to-use datasets related to year and month-wise volume and value of transactions from different payment instruments can be downloaded from Dataful.

Key Insights

UPI dominates in transaction volumes, while RTGS tops in values
India’s payments ecosystem includes both paper-based instruments like cheques and a wide range of digital systems such as NEFT, IMPS, RTGS, NACH, cards, prepaid instruments, and UPI. Over the past two decades, the country has seen rapid growth in digital payments driven by improved infrastructure, accessibility, and user adoption.

Between 2019-25, UPI dominated in transaction volume (average of 84%) but accounted for only an average of 9% in transaction values, reflecting its use for small-value payments. In contrast, RTGS accounted high percentage in terms of transaction values (an average of 74%) as it is used for large-scale money transfers, while it is less than 1% in terms of the transaction volumes.

Average ticket size for RTGS improves, but far below pre-COVID levels
Since its introduction, RTGS has emerged as a key pillar of India’s digital payments ecosystem, showing steady growth in both transaction volume and value. Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, RTGS transactions recorded a CAGR of 13.7% in volume and 13.8% in value.

While overall volumes and values have risen consistently, the average transaction size has fluctuated; declining between 2011 and 2015, rising from 2015 to 2018, and falling sharply again from 2019 to 2022. More recently, this trend has reversed, with the average ticket size once again moving upward, but it is far below the pre-COVID levels.

Why it matters
India’s payments system is not just about convenience; it reflects the pulse of the real economy. Every shift in payment behaviour from QR codes to tap and pay cards mirrors broader trends in consumption and accessibility. With India’s fintech sector maturing and regulatory scrutiny tightening, understanding this data is crucial for anticipating future shifts in both consumer behaviours and innovation.

Key numbers

Transaction volumes of major payment systems (In Crores)

Transaction values of major payment systems (In Lakh Crore Rupees)

Average Ticket size in major payment transactions (in Lakh Rupees)