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New Delhi: The International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s June 2025 report ‘Growing Retail Digital Payments (The Value of Interoperability)’ ranked Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as the world’s largest retail fast-payment system (FPS) by transaction volume. Additionally, according to ACI Worldwide’s 2024 report ‘Prime Time for Real-Time’, UPI accounts for approximately 49% of the global real-time payment system transaction volume. Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State in the Finance Ministry, said this in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

Here is the table giving a detailed comparative overview of UPI’s current position and market share compared to other major international real-time payment platforms:

Source: ACI Worldwide’s ‘Prime Time for Real-Time’ 2024 Report

To help small merchants in adopting digital payment systems including UPI, the Government, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have taken several initiatives from time to time.

BHIM-UPI Incentive Scheme: To encourage low value BHIM-UPI transactions.

Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF): The fund provides grant assistance to banks and fintech companies to set up digital payment infrastructure (such as POS terminals and QR codes) in Tier 3 to 6 centres. By October 31, 2025, about 5.45 crore digital touch points have been set up in Tier-3 to 6 centers through PIDF.

QR Code Delivery: By the financial year 2024-25, a total of 56.86 crore QR codes were given to about 6.5 crore merchants.
The government, RBI and NPCI have started promoting digital transactions through RuPay and UPI across all businesses including public services, transportation and e-commerce platforms across the country.