PhonePe emerges as India's leading UPI app
Walmart-owned UPI app PhonePe processed 975.53 million transactions amounting to Rs. 1,89,517 crore in February alone. This makes it the country's most popular UPI app, with Google Pay coming in at second place, and Paytm a distant third. Separately, Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp's UPI performance failed to meet expectations. WhatsApp processed a dismal 0.55 million transactions amounting to just Rs. 32.41 crore.
PhonePe records month-on-month improvement, WhatsApp's UPI transactions decline
The data from National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) shows PhonePe's transaction volumes increased from January when it had processed 968.72 million transactions worth Rs. 1,91,973 crore. In contrast, WhatsApp's transactions declined since December when it had processed 0.81 million transactions amounting to Rs. 29.72 crore. In total, Indians have processed 2.29 billion UPI transactions amounting to Rs. 4,25,062 crore.
PhonePe, Google Pay handle 85 percent of all UPI transactions
Further, Google Pay's transaction volume has fallen from 960 million transactions in November to 827.86 million transactions worth Rs. 1,74,455 crore in February. It still holds the second place on the NPCI's list of most popular UPI apps by transaction volume. Evidently, PhonePe and Google Pay together account for 85 percent of the UPI transactions in the country.
Paytm, Amazon Pay record performance improvement in February
In third place on NPCI's list, Paytm processed 290.03 million transactions in February, up from 281.18 million in January. Total transaction value saw an increase from Rs. 33,909 crore in January to Rs. 34,405.44 crore in February. Amazon Pay carried out 44.22 million transactions totalling Rs. 3,831.99 crore, an improvement from 40.53 million transactions in December.
More than half of all transactions take place between individuals
NPCI's own BHIM UPI app recorded 20.44 million transactions amounting to Rs 6,379.91 crore. Year-on-year, UPI in India saw a 73 percent growth in transaction volume and 90+ percent growth in transaction value. Based on the available data, almost 56 percent of February's UPI transaction volume was from peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers between individuals, with the remaining volume coming from peer-to-merchant (P2M) transactions.
WhatsApp privacy policy fiasco takes toll on its UPI performance
In terms of value, P2P transactions accounted for 83 percent of all UPI transactions in February, with the remaining transactions being P2M. PhonePe's improved performance can be attributed to active participation of businesses, individuals, and the Indian government. Meanwhile WhatsApp's privacy policy fiasco seems to have hurt the messaging service on the UPI payments front as well.
