India's UPI now handles 86% as many payments as Visa
Transactions in the latest fiscal year, billions: one country's public rail versus Visa's whole world.
UPI transactions in India's FY2025-26 (April 2025–March 2026), per NPCI.
Transactions processed by Visa worldwide in its FY2026 (to September 2026).
UPI's growth in a decade, from 1.78 crore (0.018bn) transactions in FY2016-17.
the numbers
| Transactions (bn) | UPI FY2016-17 (bn) | |
|---|---|---|
| Visa, worldwide (FY to Sep 2026) | 281.3 | 0.0 |
| UPI, India (FY to Mar 2026) | 241.6 | 0.0 |
source notes & method
UPI FY2025-26 = 24,161.69 crore transactions (NPCI data quoted in government 'UPI turns 10' material, reported by YourStory, TaxTMI, ABS News Service); consistent with NPCI monthly data (218.6bn Apr–Feb plus 22.6bn in March). Visa figure is processed transactions on VisaNet, fiscal year Oct 2025–Sep 2026; the two 12-month windows overlap by six months. Visa counts card payments across 200+ countries; UPI is mostly small domestic transfers and merchant payments, so value per transaction is far lower. 86% = 241.6 / 281.3 (derived). FY2016-17 UPI given as 1.78 crore or about 2 crore depending on source.
Published 30 Oct 2026
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