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Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the most effective medium of digital payments in India, has set a new record in March 2026. This month saw a significant increase in UPI transactions due to festivals and the closing of the financial year. According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the value of total transactions through UPI this month stood at Rs 29.53 lakh crore and the number of transactions stood at 22.64 billion, the highest ever.

Increase in transaction value and number

The total value of UPI transactions grew by 19% to reach Rs 29.53 lakh crore in March 2026. Along with this, an increase of 10% was also seen compared to February. The number of transactions recorded a 24% increase during the month, reaching 22.64 billion. In February this figure was 20.39 billion.

effect of festivals

In March, due to major festivals like Holi and Eid, the average daily transactions stood at Rs 73 crore. The average value of these transactions per day was recorded at Rs 95,243 crore. It is clear that the use of digital payments has increased rapidly during festivals.

UPI globally

UPI accounts for about 85% of the total digital transactions in India. UPI’s contribution is significant even at the global level, where it accounts for nearly 50% of real-time digital payments. UPI has now expanded beyond India and is active in seven countries namely UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France and Mauritius. Its launch in France is UPI’s first step in Europe.

security and trust

Recently the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has implemented 2-step verification rules for UPI. In this, the first verification is based on the mobile number linked to the bank, while the second is based on UPI PIN. This increases the speed and security of transactions, as well as preventing unauthorized access.