Digital payments across India recorded a double-digit increase of 11.1 per cent year-on-year (YoY) as of September 2024, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) index that measures the adoption of online transactions, as stated in a central bank statement.
The RBI’s Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI) for September 2024 stands at 465.33, up from 445.50 in March 2024. The increase was driven by growth in payment infrastructure and payment performance across the country, the RBI noted.
The RBI has been publishing the composite RBI-DPI since 1 January 2021, with March 2018 as the base to gauge the extent of digitisation of payments across the country. The index is released on a semi-annual basis.
It comprises five parameters that measure the penetration and deepening of digital payments over different periods. These parameters are: Payment Enablers (weightage 25 per cent), Payment Infrastructure – Demand-side factors (10 per cent), Payment Infrastructure – Supply-side factors (15 per cent), Payment Performance (45 per cent), and Consumer Centricity (5 per cent).
Earlier this week, the RBI highlighted in a report that UPI has been the most significant contributor to India’s digital payments growth, thanks to its ease of use and utility. According to the report, the share of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in the country’s digital payments rose from 34 per cent in 2019 to 83 per cent in 2024, with a remarkable CAGR (cumulative average growth rate) of 74 per cent over the last five years.
In contrast, the share of other payment systems such as RTGS, NEFT, IMPS, credit cards, and debit cards fell from 66 per cent to 17 per cent during the same period, the report stated. At a macro level, the volume of UPI transactions rose from 375 crore in 2018 to 17,221 crore in 2024, while the total value grew from ₹5.86 lakh crore in 2018 to ₹246.83 lakh crore in 2024.
This translates into a five-year CAGR of 89.3 per cent and 86.5 per cent in terms of volume and value, respectively, the report added.
(IANS)