Merchant payments dominate UPI transactions in October, but personal transfers tell a different story on value
India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed 25.47 billion transactions worth Rs 31.53 lakh crore in October 2026, according to data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
Transaction volume increased 5.8% from 24.07 billion in September, while the value of payments rose 7.3% from Rs 29.37 lakh crore. Compared with October 2025, transaction volume grew 23%, while value increased 15.6%.
Key takeaways
1. Daily UPI transactions increased
UPI recorded an average of 821.5 million transactions per day in October, compared with 802.3 million in September.
The average daily transaction value increased from Rs 97,913 crore to Rs 1,01,707 crore. The average amount per transaction also rose slightly, from approximately Rs 1,220 to Rs 1,238.
2. Merchant payments accounted for most transactions, but personal transfers dominated value
Payments to merchants (P2M) represented 63.2% of UPI transaction volume in October, while person-to-person (P2P) transfers accounted for most of the money transferred.
- Merchant payments: 16.09 billion transactions worth Rs 9.71 lakh crore, representing 30.8% of total transaction value.
- Person-to-person transfers: 9.37 billion transactions worth Rs 21.82 lakh crore, accounting for approximately 69.2% of total value.
The figures indicate that merchant payments were more frequent, while personal transfers involved larger amounts on average.
3. More banks joined UPI
The number of banks connected to UPI increased from 756 in September to 758 in October.
NPCI’s monthly statistics exclude transactions in which the same account is both debited and credited.
Read more:
- PhonePe & Google Pay’s combined UPI app share fell to 77.8% in Sept 2026
- Technical UPI declines rise to 0.24% among top 20 banks in September
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