From cash to clicks
The headline "From cash to clicks" suggests a transition or shift from traditional cash transactions to digital or online transactions, represented by the term "clicks." It could relate to business, finance, or societal changes regarding payment methods or consumer behavior. It's a short, evocative phrase.India's payment ecosystem has undergone a remarkable transformation, with digital transactions now accounting for over 97% of both volume and value. The shift from cash accelerated after the 2016 demonetization. UPI handled 84% of digital transactions, while RTGS dominated with 70% of value. Credit card transactions overtook debit cards.
STATSGURU From cash to clicksSTATSGURU From cash to clicks SNEHA SASIKUMAR Prime minister Narendra Modi earlier this month said India's growth fact sheet was the success story of the "Reform, Perform and Transform" mantra while pointing to the emergence of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as one of the key reasons behind the transformation. The payment ecosystem in India has witnessed a remarkable transformation in recent years with overall digital transactions now accounting for over 97 per cent of both volume and value of total payments.
The shift from cash to digital accelerated sharply after the 2016 demonetisation drive, with the digital share in total volume of payments crossing 90 per cent initially and now covering almost all such transactions. (Chart 1) 1 99.7% of payments now cashless
% share of digital payment in total payment by volume Total payment volume (in billion) (LHS) Share of digital payment in total volume (%) (RHS) 250 110 99.73 200 100 74.64 150 90 100 80 50 70 0 60 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 Note: Digital payment includes large-value credit transfers (RTGS), credit transfers, debit transfers, card payments, and prepaid payments.
On November 8, 2016, the government demonetised all
₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes.
Sources: RBI, a written reply in Parliament, BS calculations Digital payments constituted over 90 per cent of total value of payments even before demonetisation. Their share slowly moved to 97.5 per cent now. (Chart 2) UPI handled 84 per cent of volume of digital transactions in FY25 but just 9 per cent of value, while Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) dominated with 70 per cent of value despite processing under 1 per cent in volume. (Chart 3) UPI's growth accelerated sharply after the pandemic, rising from 37 per cent digital transactions by volume in FY20 to over half by FY21, and further to 84 per cent by FY25. (Chart 4) Person-to-person transfers still dominate UPI in both volume and value, though merchant transactions are slowly moving up. (Chart 5) Credit card transactions overtook debit cards by volume in FY24, while credit card values surged sharply after FY21. (Chart 6) StatsGuru is a weekly feature. Every Monday, Business Standard guides you through the numbers you need to know to make sense of the headlines 2 97.5% payment value share
% share of digital payment in total payment by value Total payment value (trillion) (LHS) Share of digital payment in total value (%) (RHS) 3,500 98 97.58 2,800 97 94.85 2,100 96 1,400 95 700 94 0 93 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 Sources: RBI, a written reply in Parliament, BS calculations 3 UPI vs RTGS Share of top payment systems in digital transactions (%) 5 Person-to-person still leads UPI transaction share (%): Person-to-person against Person-to-merchant
*PPIs: Prepaid payment instruments 4 The UPI surge Credit cards Share of UPI in total 6 overtake digital transactions (%)
**IMPS: Immediate payment service Trend in debit and credit card transactions Note: Top five by 100 volume; RTGS 83.73 Volume Value included for its Volume (billion) dominant value share.
Payment system 80 The UPI was FY17 FY25 FY17 FY25 UPI 4.77 UPI introduced in India in 0.18 83.73 0 9.11 2016; the break-up 60 16.61 4.33 5.51 15.50 data is available from NEFT 20.11 3.16 0.04 0.08 Debit Cards FY17. In FY17, UPI 40 PPIs* transaction value 5.19 2.53 0.19 2.49 0.81 IMPS** stood at a modest 20 Credit card payments 69 billion, 11.13 2.15 0.15 0.74 0.18 accounting for a Value Credit Cards RTGS minuscule share of 1.10 0.14 45.09 70.34 the total digital 9.11 0 payment pie.
Value 1.61 Sources: NPCI, RBI, FY17 FY21 FY25 BS calculations Value (trillion) Note: Same as chart 3 Sources: NPCI, RBI, BS calculations 25
% share of transaction 21.10 Volume P2P P2M 20 Value P2P P2M Credit Cards Note: P2P refers to Person-toPerson and P2M refers to Person-to-Merchant.
15 Sources: RBI, BS calculations 10 1.21 5 1.89 95.66 91.40 93.67 85.89 92.97 4.34 8.60 6.33 14.11 7.03 Debit Cards 5.00 0 FY15 FY20 FY25 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Sources: RBI, PIB
