Every Indian must be proud: PM Modi on 10 years of UPI

NEW DELHI,  (IANS): Marking 10 years of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the scale and reach of India's digital payment revolution are something every Indian must be proud of.

He said that the introduction of the UPI system marked a major turning point in India's digital payments journey.

Taking to X, PM Modi said, "A decade ago, UPI was rolled out, marking a major turning point in India's digital payments journey. The sheer scale and reach of UPI are something every Indian must be proud of."

He also asked the countrymen to share their UPI experience and how its introduction impacted their lives.

The UPI, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has emerged as a cornerstone of India's digital payments revolution. UPI is currently accepted in 11 countries, with Greece and the Maldives being the latest to adopt India's real-time payment platform.

The statement highlighted UPI's growing global footprint, saying the system is operational in Bhutan, Nepal, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, France, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Qatar, enabling seamless cross-border digital payments.

UPI has seen unprecedented growth in both transaction volume and value over the past decade, with annual volumes rising nearly 12,000-fold from 2 crore transactions in FY 2016?17 to over 24,162 crore in FY 2025?26, an official factsheet said on Monday.

Annual transaction value grew from Rs 0.07 lakh crore to nearly Rs 314 lakh crore, recording more than a 4,000-fold increase.

The factsheet noted that the UPI network comprised 741 live banks, processed 2,365.8 crore transactions and recorded a total transaction value of Rs 29.87 lakh crore in July 2026.

UPI accounted for nearly 49 per cent of global real-time payment transaction volume in 2024, and the achievement was highlighted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its 'Growing Retail Digital Payments: The Value of Interoperability' report.

On-device authentication for UPI was introduced in 2025, enabling payments through smartphone fingerprint or face unlock. Aadhaar-based Face Authentication simplified UPI PIN onboarding, especially for first-time users, senior citizens and those without easy access to cards.