Daily UPI transactions hit record high in February, daily value closes to Rs 1 lakh crore mark

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• UPI daily transactions hit a record 728 million in February
• Average daily transaction value neared Rs 1 lakh crore
• Monthly UPI volume fell due to fewer days, but usage intensity increased.

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India’s real-time payments ecosystem continued its rapid expansion in February, with average daily Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions touching a fresh record even as overall monthly volumes moderated slightly from January levels.

Data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on March 1 showed that average daily transaction volumes rose to 728 million in February, the highest level since the platform’s launch. Daily transaction value also climbed sharply, nearing the significant Rs 1 lakh crore mark, underscoring the growing centrality of digital payments in everyday economic activity.

While total monthly transactions stood at 20.39 billion, lower than January’s 21.7 billion due to fewer calendar days, usage intensity continued to rise. Average daily transaction value increased to nearly Rs 95,857 crore, compared with about Rs 91,387 crore in January, indicating stronger payment flows despite shorter month duration.

The steady rise in daily usage highlights how UPI has transitioned from a peer-to-peer payment tool into the backbone of India’s consumption economy. In early 2022, India processed roughly 150 million daily transactions on average. That figure has now nearly grown five-fold in four years, pointing to widespread adoption across retail payments, small merchants, utility payments and recurring transactions.

Growth momentum has remained resilient even as year-on-year expansion rates moderate from earlier triple-digit levels. Volume growth stood at around 26.6 percent year-on-year in February, while transaction value expanded by more than 22 percent, suggesting continued scaling on an already large base.

The average transaction size has stabilised around Rs 1,300 in recent months after declining steadily between 2022 and 2024. This plateau indicates that UPI growth is now being driven less by falling ticket sizes and more by higher frequency usage — a sign of deeper integration into routine economic behaviour rather than incremental onboarding alone.