In a remarkable financial milestone, UPI surpasses Visa to emerge as the world’s most utilised digital payment platform. From its humble beginnings in 2016 as a government-backed effort to promote cashless transactions, India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has grown into a global digital giant, processing more transactions per day than Visa, the decades-old global leader.
This isn’t just a story of numbers. It’s a story of innovation, accessibility, and India’s digital rise.
UPI: A Milestone of Global Significance
On June 2, 2025, UPI processed an astounding 65 crore (650 million) transactions in a single day, overtaking Visa’s average daily volume of 63.9 crore. Just a day before, UPI had processed 64.4 crore transactions, marking two consecutive record-breaking days.
For a platform less than a decade old, UPI surpasses Visa not only in volume but in impact. This is a defining moment in the global fintech landscape, putting India firmly at the centre of the digital payments revolution.
The Numbers Behind the Surge
In May 2025, UPI saw an average of 60.2 crore daily transactions, climbing to 67.4 crore during the March quarter. Early May saw numbers around 63 crore, gradually rising to 65 crore by month-end, underscoring the platform’s meteoric growth trajectory.
Meanwhile, MasterCard, the second-largest card network after Visa, averages around 45 crore transactions per day. UPI has comfortably outpaced both these stalwarts.
In terms of transaction value, UPI has widened the gap even further. In May alone, it facilitated transactions worth a jaw-dropping ₹25 lakh crore, nearly 12 times more than the combined total of Visa and MasterCard in India. Today, a staggering 85% of India’s digital transactions are conducted via UPI.
A Growth Engine at Full Throttle
What’s fueling this revolution? UPI’s monthly transaction growth currently stands at 5–7%, with an annual growth rate of 40%. In contrast, Visa’s growth lingers at around 10% annually. If this pace continues, analysts project that UPI’s daily transaction volumes could consistently outpace Visa’s globally in the next two to three months.
The Indian government is not slowing down either. A new national target has been set: 1 billion daily UPI transactions. And if current trends are any indication, it may be more than just an aspirational goal.
India’s Global Fintech Footprint Expands
The story doesn’t end at India’s borders. Several countries, including France, the UAE, Sri Lanka, and Singapore, have already adopted or partnered with UPI for cross-border payments. As the world grapples with the need for secure, real-time digital payment systems, India’s homegrown platform is becoming a beacon of possibility.
According to the Reserve Bank of India, India now accounts for 48.5% of all global digital transactions, thanks largely to UPI. That’s nearly half of the world’s digital retail payments driven by a system built in and for India.
More Than Just Numbers
The success of UPI is not just about surpassing Visa. It’s about democratizing finance. With just a smartphone and internet access, millions of Indians—from urban professionals to rural farmers—have been brought into the fold of secure, instant, and cost-free digital payments.
Its integration with India’s biometric-based Aadhaar system, QR code payments, and bank account interoperability has made UPI not just successful, but revolutionary.
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