- By Yashashvi Tak
- Tue, 09 Dec 2025 04:23 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Indian's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been recognised as the world’s largest retail fast-payment system by transaction volume in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) June 2025 report, “Growing Retail Digital Payments (The Value of Interoperability),” according to the Press Information Bureau (PIB).
The 2024 report “Prime Time for Real-Time” by ACI Worldwide highlights that UPI handles almost 49% of real-time payment transactions worldwide, firmly establishing it as the leader in the global fast-payment landscape.
Status Of Other International Real-Time Payment Platforms
Brazil holds the second position with 37.4 billion transactions, capturing a 14% share of the market. Thailand follows with 20.4 billion transactions (8 percent), while China ranks fourth with 17.2 billion transactions (6 percent). South Korea records 9.1 billion transactions (3 percent), and the remaining countries together account for 52.8 billion transactions, representing 20 percent of the total.
Boosting Digital Payments For Small Merchants
To encourage small merchants to adopt digital payment solutions, including UPI, the Government, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have implemented several initiatives over time.
These measures include an incentive program to promote low-value BHIM-UPI transactions and the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), which provides grants to banks and fintechs for setting up digital payment infrastructure, such as POS terminals and QR codes, in tier-3 to tier-6 locations.
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By October 31, 2025, around 5.45 crore digital touchpoints had been established under PIDF in these regions. Additionally, as of FY 2024-25, a total of 56.86 crore QR codes had been deployed to roughly 6.5 crore merchants.
