Digital payment volumes down MoM in Jan but UPI bucks trend

Moneycontrol BureauEven as high-denomination currency is back in circulation, people have begun exploring alternative digital modes like Immediate Payment Services (IMPS) and Unified Payments Interface (UPI), suggests a report by Business Standard today. A representative data of digital transactions in the country in January 2017, released by the Reserve Bank of India shows a 10 percent dip in digital payments volumes and 7 percent in value over the previous month.But, it is noteworthy that while card and PoS transactions dropped and mobile banking transactions took a hit with a 7.6 percent month-on-month drop in January, IMPS and UPI gained traction. UPI-based dealings, in fact, jumped from just 0.3 million in November to 4.2 million in January. This translates to Rs 1,666 crore in January from just Rs 91 crore in November. 

The central bank started releasing this data on a daily basis since December 2, close to a month after note ban kicked in.  The data is, however, only indicative as it takes into account card transactions of only four banks, pre-paid instruments of eight non-banks and mobile banking figure from five banks.

The number of digital transactions – including debit and credit cards, electronic fund transfers, digital wallets and mobile banking – fell to around 923 million in January from 1,028 million in December. In value terms, this translates to Rs 98 lakh crore versus Rs 105 lakh crore in the same periods.