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India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) remained the dominant force in digital payments, with transactions rising 35% year-on-year to reach 106.36 billion in the first half of 2025.

The total transaction value through UPI reached Rs 143.34 lakh crore, showing how deeply digital payments have integrated into daily life, according to Worldline’s India Digital Payments Report (1H 2025).

UPI Dominates India’s Digital Payments with 35% Growth and Rs 143 Lakh Crore in Transactions

The average UPI transaction size dropped from Rs 1,478 in early 2024 to Rs 1,348 in early 2025.

This decline suggests that users are increasingly relying on UPI for small, everyday purchases at tea stalls, grocery stores, and online platforms.

Person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions grew 37% to 67.01 billion, fueled by what Worldline refers to as the “Kirana Effect,” where small and micro businesses drive digital adoption.

India’s QR-based payment network expanded rapidly, more than doubling to 678 million by June 2025 — a 111% increase from January 2024.

The number of Point-of-Sale (PoS) terminals rose 29% to 11.2 million, and Bharat QR reached 6.72 million.

These developments have made India home to the world’s largest merchant network, supported by small business participation and government inclusion initiatives.

The report also notes that credit cards are evolving into premium spending tools.

The number of active credit cards increased 23% from January 2024 to June 2025, with monthly spending surpassing Rs 2.2 trillion.

Despite a 6% fall in average transaction size, credit cards are now being used more frequently for daily expenses.

In contrast, debit card usage at PoS terminals declined by nearly 8%, as smaller payments increasingly moved to UPI.

Mobile payments remained the top choice for everyday transactions, growing 30% year-on-year to 98.9 billion transactions worth Rs 209.7 trillion.

Make UPI Payments On ChatGPT: Testing Starts By NPCI, RazorPay, OpenAI

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), in collaboration with Razorpay and OpenAI, has launched a pilot program allowing users to make AI-powered payments directly through ChatGPT using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). This initiative marks a major step toward agentic AI commerce, where artificial intelligence can autonomously handle transactions securely and efficiently.

The concept of agentic AI refers to AI models capable of performing complex tasks with minimal human intervention. By embedding UPI credentials within ChatGPT, users can authorize transactions, enabling AI to act as a transactional assistant. Razorpay CEO Harshil Mathur emphasizes that this technology transforms AI assistants from simple discovery tools into full-fledged shopping agents capable of completing purchases autonomously.