PhonePe further strengthened its leadership in India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) ecosystem in December, clocking 9.81 billion customer-initiated transactions worth ₹13.61 lakh crore, according to data compiled from disclosures by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
The Walmart-backed fintech commanded a 45.35% market share by transaction volume and 48.68% by value among the top 10 UPI applications during the month, cementing its dominant position in India’s digital payments landscape.
Google Pay, Paytm retain top-three positions
Google Pay continued to hold the second spot, processing 7.5 billion transactions in December. This translated into a 34.64% share of total UPI volumes and 34.25% of transaction value.
Paytm remained the third-largest UPI app, recording 1.65 billion transactions during the month. The fintech held a 7.65% share by volume and 6.32% by value, maintaining distance from the top two players.
BHIM edges past CRED in volumes
Beyond the top three, transaction activity remained fragmented. Navi reported 678 million transactions in December, while super.money recorded 287 million transactions.
The government-backed BHIM app registered 158 million transactions, narrowly overtaking CRED, which slipped to the eighth position with 157.25 million transactions. Despite lower volumes, CRED continued to process nearly three times higher transaction value compared to BHIM, reflecting its focus on higher-ticket payments.
Axis Bank’s UPI apps and WhatsApp Pay remained marginal contributors, each accounting for less than 1% of total transaction volumes.
UPI posts record monthly activity
App-level growth mirrored strong overall UPI performance in December. The platform processed 21.63 billion transactions worth ₹27.97 lakh crore, marking one of its highest-ever monthly tallies.
The surge was driven by year-end spending, continued festive demand, and deeper UPI adoption for small offline payments across tier II and tier III cities.
Everyday spending drives growth
According to the data, UPI usage in December was led by daily consumption categories. Grocery and supermarket payments topped the list, followed by fast food outlets, restaurants, telecom services, and fuel stations.
Digital gold transactions also saw a sharp uptick, rising to 183.32 million transactions worth ₹2,079.31 crore in December, compared to 123.42 million transactions valued at ₹1,215.36 crore in November.
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