65% UPI, 20% EMIs: The Numbers That Define India’s Digital Payment Era

India's digital payments ecosystem is experiencing a seismic shift, with Unified Payments Interface (UPI) solidifying its place as the nation's go-to payment mode. In March 2025, UPI represented an astonishing 65% of all online transactions, facilitating a record ₹24.77 lakh crore worth of transactions across 19.78 billion transactions. This represents a remarkable 36% year-on-year growth in transaction volume, highlighting the platform's ubiquitous adoption for everything from grocery shopping to large-ticket purchases.

The complementary dominance of UPI has come in the form of Equated Monthly Installments (EMIs), which make up 20% of the digital payments environment. The uptick in EMIs is driven by an increase in consumer willingness to pay flexible prices, especially for high-ticket items such as electronics and bookings for travel.".

Even as UPI is growing overseas and innovating in line with changing consumer needs through greater transaction values and more advanced security features, analysts point out a marginal deceleration in its growth rate. Small transactions, which happen repeatedly, are increasingly becoming the norm as digital payments become even deeper into semi-urban and rural India.

This twin surge of UPI and EMIs is an indication of India moving towards a cashless economy, propelled by innovation, convenience, and trust in fintech. 

Source: CNBC-TV18, Business Today