UPI Transactions Dip Slightly in February, IMPS and FASTag Steady

In February, Unified Payment Interface (UPI) transactions in India experienced a slight decline in both value and volume, falling 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent respectively compared to January. According to experts, factors contributing to this dip include a shorter month and technical breakdowns at multiple banks. “One of the reasons behind this could be the technical breakdowns at multiple banks earlier in the month which led to the downtime of servers and failed UPI transactions,” said Akshay Mehrotra, co-founder and CEO of Fibe. “It is evident that UPI is one of the most preferred modes of digital payments among individuals,” he added. Despite the dip, February’s UPI transactions were still notably higher than the same month in 2023, with a 61 percent increase in volume and a 48 percent increase in value.

On the other hand, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions saw a 5 percent increase in volume and a 0.4 percent increase in value in February. The transaction count for IMPS rose from 509 million in January to 535 million in February, showing a steady upward trend. FASTag transactions also experienced a marginal rise in value in February compared to January, although there was a slight dip in transaction volume. However, both volume and value were higher compared to February 2023.

In contrast, the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) witnessed a decline in both volume and value in February. The value of AePS transactions decreased by 5 percent compared to January, with a similar trend seen in transaction volume. “AwPS has seen a degrowth of 11 percent in volume and 15 percent in value during the same month last year,” stated the report. Despite fluctuations in various payment systems, digital transactions continue to play a significant role in India’s evolving payment landscape.