Unified Payments Interface (UPI) posted its highest ever monthly transaction volume in August 2026, with 24.51 billion transactions worth Rs 29.82 lakh crore, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The August numbers surpassed July’s 23.66 billion transactions. However, transaction value declined marginally from Rs 29.88 lakh crore in July. On a daily basis, UPI processed 791 million transactions, while the average daily transaction value stood at Rs 96,205 crore. Compared to July, transaction volume increased 3.6% from 23.66 billion, while transaction value declined 0.2% from Rs 29.88 lakh crore. On a year-on-year basis, transaction volume grew 22%, while transaction value increased 20%. UPI crossed the23 billion monthly transactionmark for the first time in May and has continued to see strong growth in subsequent months. As of July, Walmart-backed digital payments platform PhonePeretainedits lead in the UPI ecosystem with 10.86 billion transactions, followed by Google Pay with 7.65 billion and Paytm with 1.90 billion transactions. PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm accounted for 45.89%, 32.33% and 8.05% of UPI transaction volume, respectively. NPCI is yet to release the app-wise transaction data for August. In August, discussions around the merchant discount rate (MDR) on UPI resurfaced after the government proposed changes to the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. Theamendmentgives the government flexibility to decide which electronic payment modes remain exempt from merchant charges. The government has clarified that consumers will not be charged for UPI transactions, while any future MDR would apply only to a limited set of merchant transactions. Recently, the Maldives launched a real-time payment corridor with India, further expanding UPI’s global footprint. UPI merchant payments are now live in 10 international markets: Bhutan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, France, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Qatar, Cambodia and the Maldives. Greece remains connected for person-to-person transfers, while Singapore and Nepal also support remittance linkages. Bareback Media has recently raised funding from a group of investors. Some of the investors may directly or indirectly be involved in a competing business or might be associated with other companies we might write about. This shall, however, not influence our reporting or coverage in any manner whatsoever. You may find a list of our investorshere.
