Worldline India Digital Payments Report 2H 2024

The 2H 2024 India Digital Payments Report highlights a pivotal phase in India's digital payment evolution, showcasing remarkable growth and innovation. UPI remains the driving force, with 93.23 billion transactions in H2 2024, reflecting a 42% year-on-year surge to INR 130.19 trillion in value. This surge, particularly in person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions, reinforces UPI’s role as the preferred choice for seamless digital payments. The digital payments infrastructure expanded significantly during this period, with Point of Sale (POS) terminals surpassing the 10 million mark. This milestone, coupled with the surge in UPI QRs, demonstrates the deep penetration of digital payment infrastructure across India's diverse economy, from metropolitan cities to small towns and rural areas. 

UPI continues to lead India's digital revolution, reinforcing its role in everyday micro-transactions. The steady decline in average ticket size highlights UPI's increasing adoption for small-value payments, which is particularly evident in the growth of person-to-merchant transactions. Mobile payments have become the go-to channel for Indians, with transactions surging 41% to 88.54 billion, reinforcing mobile-first financial behavior and underscoring smartphones' central role in the financial ecosystem. As digital adoption accelerates, new technologies like Software Point of Sale (SoftPOS) are reshaping financial accessibility, setting the stage for the next wave of transformation. This innovation makes payment acceptance more accessible and affordable for businesses of all sizes by enabling NFC-equipped smartphones to function as secure, contactless payment terminals.

In the physical retail space, grocery stores, restaurants, service stations, clothing stores, government services, and pharmacies accounted for the majority of transaction volume. Online, e-commerce, gaming, utilities, government, and financial services dominated the digital payment sphere. At Worldline, we're actively shaping this transformation. Our insights reveal how digital payments are becoming the backbone of India's economic growth story, touching lives across urban centers and rural communities. The shifts in consumer behavior and merchant adoption signal a future where digital transactions will be seamlessly integrated into daily life.

The report dives into the latest payment trends across channels, detailed merchant category insights, regional transaction patterns, and expert perspectives on emerging technologies like SoftPOS. Readers will discover in-depth statistics on UPI's growth trajectory, credit and debit card usage patterns, and the evolving mobile payments sector that will shape India's financial ecosystem in the coming years.