In October, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) registered 16.58 billion transactions worth Rs 23.5 trillion, data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said on Friday.

The transactions in October were the highest numbers for the digital system since it became operational in April 2016.

UPI’s previous peak was 15.04 billion in volume terms in September 2024 and Rs 20.64 trillion in value in July.

In terms of volume, October witnessed a 10% spike and 14% in value compared to September. There were 14.96 billion UPI transactions amounting to Rs 20.61 trillion in August

Data from previous months shows that the growth in transactions is driven by person to merchant transactions (for buying goods or services), which got a festival season push in October. It was the first time that UPI crossed 16 billion in volume and Rs 23 trillion in value.

Daily UPI transactions in October crossed 535 million in volume and Rs 75,801 crore in value. That is compared to 501 million in volume and Rs 68,800 crore in September. In October, UPI volume and value grew 45 per cent and 37 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y).

Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions decreased by 5% yoy in volume to 467 million in October, it displayed a significant month on month increase, up from 430 million in September 2024.

In terms of value, IMPS transactions witnessed a significant increase in October recording Rs 6.29 trillion worth transactions, compared to Rs 5.65 trillion in September. The numbers recorded a yoy growth of 17% in October, up from 11% in September this year.

FASTag transactions increased by 8% yoy, also recording a significant month on month increase to 345 Mn in volume from 318 million transactions in September.

In terms of value, FASTag transactions rose significantly to Rs 61.15 billion in October, compared to Rs 56.2 billion in September. Year-on-year, FASTag transactions saw a 8% rise in volume and 10 per cent rise in value compared to October 2023.

Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) transactions witnessed a whopping 26% yoy increase.The transactions volume increased to 126 Mn in October from 100 Mn in September.