Payments via mobile wallets in India to outstrip ₹531.8 lakh cr by 2028: GlobalData

Payments made through mobile wallets in India are projected to exceed ₹531.8 lakh crore by 2028, as per a report released by UK-based analytics firm GlobalData. The growth is expected to occur at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.3% between 2024 and 2028.

The report reveals the value of mobile wallet transactions in India experienced significant growth, reaching ₹208.25 lakh crore ($2.5 trillion) in 2023 with a CAGR of 72.1% between 2019 and 2023. This surge is attributed mainly to the government's efforts in promoting digital payment methods, particularly the mobile wallet-based instant payment solution known as the unified payments interface (UPI).

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced plans to enable cash deposits in banks through UPI at ATMs, expanding its use beyond peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions, bill payments, and merchant transactions. UPI, which had a user base of 300 million as of October 2023, will now allow payments from Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) through third-party UPI apps, eliminating the need for ATM or debit cards.

Shivani Gupta, senior banking and payments analyst at GlobalData, says: "India is one of the most developed mobile wallet markets in the world. Mobile wallets are now widely used for day-to-day transactions at supermarkets, grocery stores, and street vendors, as well as for online transactions. The rise in mobile wallet adoption is largely driven by UPI, which facilitates payments in real-time simply by scanning QR codes."

There were 1,210 crore transactions made worth ₹18.44 lakh crore ($221.5 billion) in February 2024, marking a significant increase from the previous year when 750 crore transactions worth ₹12.52 lakh crore ($150.1 billion) were made in February 2023, according to data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

Additionally, UPI transactions surged to 6,577 crore from 4,209 crore in the second half of calendar year 2023, with a 44% increase in value from ₹69.36 lakh crore to ₹99.68 lakh crore during the same period.

The dominant players in the UPI app market include PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm, accounting for a significant share of transactions both in terms of volume and value.