UPI volumes at record high in August even as transaction value falls

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UPI processed 24,508.96 million transactions worth ₹29.82 lakh crore in August

On a daily basis, UPI processed an average 790.56 million transactions worth ₹95,315.25 crore in August

India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) continued to deepen its reach in August, with transaction volumes hitting a fresh record even as the overall value of payments remained broadly flat, pointing to an increasingly high-frequency, low-ticket use of the digital payments platform.UPI processed 24,508.96 million transactions worth ₹29.82 lakh crore in August, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Tuesday. Transaction volumes rose 3.6 per cent from July, while the monthly transaction value was marginally lower than the ₹29.88 lakh crore recorded in July and ₹29.90 lakh crore in May.On a daily basis, UPI processed an average 790.56 million transactions worth ₹95,315.25 crore in August. The divergence between volumes and value is becoming more pronounced, with the platform increasingly being used for everyday, smaller-value payments that were traditionally dominated by cash.“August 2026 marks another milestone for UPI, achieving a second consecutive monthly record with 24.51 billion transactions. However, overall payment value has remained consistent,” said Reeju Datta, co-founder, Cashfree Payments. He attributed part of the August volume growth to festival activity around Raksha Bandhan, which boosted person-to-person transfers and small-ticket gifting. The trend, he said, also reflects wider adoption among first-time digital users in Tier-2 and beyond markets, alongside greater acceptance among micro and street merchants.Deepak Chand Thakur, co-founder and CEO, NPST, said falling ticket sizes, alongside rising volumes, indicated that UPI’s growth was “organic and widely distributed”, rather than concentrated among a handful of users or transaction categories. The shift also changes the priorities for the ecosystem, with reliability, security and cost-efficient payment infrastructure becoming increasingly important as transactions move towards thinner ticket sizes.The upcoming festival season could provide another boost, particularly as spending on categories such as electronics and apparel increases. At the same time, emerging use cases such as Credit on UPI and cross-border payments could help push transaction values higher, complementing UPI’s continued expansion in everyday payments.Published on September 1, 2026