Phonepe Asserts Its Dominance in the UPI Ecosystem by Capturing 49% Market Share in April

In April 2024, PhonePe continued its reign as the top dog in the world of digital payments, boasting a hefty 49% market share in the unified payments interface (UPI) realm, covering both person-to-merchant (P2M) and person-to-person (P2P) transactions.

This isn’t a one-time feat either. PhonePe has been holding onto this leadership mantle for over 40 months now, starting from November 2020.

According to the latest figures from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), PhonePe processed a whopping 6.5 billion transactions through UPI last month, out of a total of 13.3 billion transactions. This translates to a significant 48.87% share of the UPI pie, despite facing competition from heavyweights like Google Pay and Paytm, among others.

Related: Paytm’S Bhavesh Gupta Steps Down as COO and President

In April, there was a slight dip in the volume of UPI transactions by 1%, totaling at 13.3 billion compared to 13.44 billion in March. Similarly, the overall transaction value also experienced a minor decline of 0.7%, amounting to Rs 19.64 trillion from Rs 19.78 trillion in March.

During both March and April, PhonePe and Google Pay maintained their transaction volumes at 6.5 billion and 5 billion respectively. However, Paytm witnessed a decrease in transactions from 1.21 billion to 1.11 billion over the last two months.

As of April, Google Pay and Paytm held market shares of 37.5% and 8.3% respectively in the broader UPI ecosystem, encompassing both person-to-merchant and person-to-person transactions.

In terms of value, PhonePe holds the majority market share at nearly 51%, followed by Google Pay at 35% and Paytm at 5%.

In January, the RBI imposed restrictions on Paytm citing compliance concerns. This is believed to be the main factor contributing to the decrease in UPI transactions for the fintech major led by Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Additionally, the company experienced a significant decline in active users since January. Paytm was given the green light by NPCI to join the UPI scene via a third-party app provider (TPAP) within the multi-bank framework.

Come April, CRED soared to become the fourth largest UPI-enabled app, handling a whopping 138 million transactions. Following closely behind were Amazon Pay and Fampay, processing 64.33 million and 46.64 million transactions, respectively. On the government’s front, BHIM saw 25 million transactions, while WhatsApp clocked in over 34 million transactions last month.

Interestingly, NPCI is rumored to be reconsidering its decision to impose a 30% market share cap on UPI apps by the end of 2024.

In April 2024, PhonePe maintained its leadership in UPI transactions, processing 6.5 billion transactions and holding a 49% market share. Though the overall UPI transaction volume experienced a slight dip, PhonePe and Google Pay retained their significant transaction volumes, while Paytm faced a decrease due to regulatory restrictions. The market also saw the rise of new players like CRED, Amazon Pay, and Fampay, signaling a shifting landscape in the UPI ecosystem. Additionally, NPCI is rumored to be reconsidering its decision to impose a 30% market share cap on UPI apps by the end of 2024, indicating potential changes on the horizon.