IMF Recognizes India's UPI as World's Largest Real-Time Payment System with 49% Global Market Share

New Delhi: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has acknowledged India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as the world's leading retail fast-payment system in terms of transaction volume, according to information presented to Parliament on Monday.

In a written response to a Lok Sabha question, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary referenced the IMF's June 2025 report titled 'Growing Retail Digital Payments (The Value of Interoperability)' which highlighted this achievement.

According to the 'Prime Time for Real-Time' 2024 report by ACI Worldwide, UPI dominates the global real-time payment landscape with a substantial 49 percent market share and 129.3 billion transaction volume. Brazil follows in second position with 14 percent market share and 37.4 billion transactions, while Thailand ranks third with 8 percent market share and 20.4 billion transactions. China holds the fourth position with 6 percent market share and 17.2 billion transactions.

The minister outlined various initiatives undertaken by the government, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to encourage small merchants to adopt digital payment systems including UPI. These include an incentive scheme promoting low-value BHIM-UPI transactions and the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), which provides grants to banks and fintech companies for deploying digital payment infrastructure such as POS terminals and QR codes in tier-3 to 6 centers.

As of October 31, 2025, approximately 5.45 crore digital touch points have been deployed through PIDF in tier-3 to 6 centers. Additionally, by the end of fiscal year 2024-25, about 56.86 crore QR codes were deployed to approximately 6.5 crore merchants.

The minister added that the Government, RBI, and NPCI are working to expand digital transactions through RuPay and UPI across various sectors, including public services, transport, and e-commerce platforms nationwide.