RBI Puts India’s Digital Public Platforms on Global Stage With UPI at 85% Share
The central bank used the World Bank–IMF meetings to press a public‑good approach it says scales securely to cut transaction costs.
Overview
- RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra said UPI accounts for about 85% of India’s digital payment transactions.
- UPI processes roughly 20 billion transactions each month with a monthly value exceeding USD 280 billion.
- India outlined three cross‑border strategies: linking UPI with other fast payment systems, enabling UPI QR merchant payments, and helping partners deploy UPI‑like rails.
- A live UPI–PayNow corridor with Singapore is already operating, and cross‑border UPI QR payments are active in select markets.
- India’s open, public‑sector model—spanning Aadhaar, UPI, and the MOSIP identity toolkit now adopted or considered by 27 countries—aims to boost inclusion, with small vendors gaining digital histories to access cheaper formal credit.