In the first quarter of 2022, 9.36 billion transactions totaling ₹10.25 trillion were processed via payment modes like debit and credit cards, prepaid payment instruments including mobile wallets and prepaid cards, and UPI person to the merchant (P2M), revealed the report released by Worldline.
The report underscored that UPI (Unified Payments Interface) P2M transactions remained the most preferred payment mode among consumers representing a market share of 64% in volume and 50% in terms of value in the Jan-March quarter.
“This is not altogether surprising given the growth of UPI. However, two points of note. Credit cards accounted for 7% of transactions but 26% of value, indicating that customers still prefer to use their credit cards for high-value transactions. Debit cards accounted for 10% of transactions but 18% in value – the volume and volume has shrunk from previous years and is likely because of the rise of UPI,” the report said.
The report said transactions via UPI have jumped twice in both volume and value terms over the previous year, showing a growth of about 99 percent in volume and over 90 percent in the value corresponding to the first quarter of 2021.
During the reported quarter, UPI logged ₹14.55 billion transactions in volume and ₹26.19 trillion in terms of value.
State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank, and Paytm Payments Bank were the top remitter banks in the quarter. The top beneficiary banks included Paytm Payments Bank, State Bank of India, Yes Bank, Axis Bank, and ICICI Bank.
As of Q1 2022, PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm Payments Bank App, Amazon Pay, Axis bank App emerged as the top UPI apps in terms of volume, while the leading PSP UPI Players were Yes Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Paytm Payments Bank.
Notably, the leading UPI Apps, Phone Pe, Google Pay, and Paytm facilitated 94.8 percent of UPI transactions in volume and 93 percent of UPI transactions on value as of March 31, 2022, the report said.
Furthermore, P2M transactions grew 24 percent (YoY) in Q1 2022 as against the same quarter, a year ago.
The report said grocery stores, restaurants, clothing and apparel, pharmacy and medical, hotels, jewelry retail, specialty retail, household appliances, and departmental stores saw over 60 percent of UPI transactions in terms of volume and about 58 percent in terms of value.
In the internet ecosystem, e-commerce, gaming, utility, and financial services accounted for over 85 percent in terms of volume and 47 percent in terms of value UPI transactions.
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and West Bengal were the states leading the UPI transactions.
The report said that Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, and Vadodara were the top cities.
If UPI Took The Lead, Then How Plastic Cards Performed?
The Worldline ‘India Digital Payments Report’ Q1 2022 showed the total credit and debit cards in circulation by the end of the first quarter, standing at 991.28 million.
The total number of outstanding credit cards jumped by 19%, from 62.04 million in March 2021 to 73.6 million in March 2022, outstanding debit cards saw an increase of 2% from 898.20 million to 917.66 million during the already said period.
Notably, in the second quarter of 2022, about 23 million debit cards withdrew from circulation, possibly due to the termination of inactive accounts or withdrawal of cards by customers.
Credit cards saw their volume and value at 2.02 billion and ₹8.77 trillion, respectively. The number of credit card transactions at POS (Point Of Sale) was 305.83 million, while e-commerce stood at 302.13 million.
In terms of value, consumers’ credit card transactions amounted to INR 1040.03 billion at POS and INR 1770 billion at eCommerce in Q1 2022.
In the same quarter, debit card transactions volume and value were 942.7 million and ₹1.81 trillion, respectively.