India has become the global leader in fast digital payments, thanks to the rapid growth and adoption of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), according to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The report, titled Growing Retail Digital Payments: The Value of Interoperability, highlights how India’s payment landscape has transformed since UPI was launched in 2016. Written by IMF staff Alexander Copestake, Divya Kirti, and Maria Soledad Martinez Peria, the report notes that India now makes faster payments than any other country in the world.
UPI, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), enables users to send and receive money instantly using mobile phones—without needing bank details. It allows people using different apps and banks to transact seamlessly. This system has made digital payments extremely simple and accessible to millions of users.
Today, UPI handles more than 18 billion transactions every month, making it the largest retail fast payment system in the world by volume. As UPI has grown, the use of cash and even debit and credit cards in India has declined.
The IMF report emphasizes the importance of interoperability—the ability of different payment platforms to work together—as a key factor behind UPI's success. It concludes that systems like UPI not only boost digital payments but also reduce reliance on cash, making financial transactions faster, safer, and more inclusive.
In summary, India’s UPI model is now being recognized globally as a benchmark for fast, inclusive, and scalable digital payments.
