India Sees 19% Surge in Merchant Digital Payments in June: Report

Digital payments to merchants in India saw a robust 19% year-on-year (YoY) growth in June, reaching ₹9.1 lakh crore (₹9.1 trillion), according to a report released on Wednesday by Equirus Securities.

UPI person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions continued to lead the digital payment surge, registering a 22% YoY increase to ₹6.8 trillion. Credit card spending also rose by 15% YoY to ₹1.8 trillion. In contrast, debit card transactions saw a sharp 14% decline, falling to ₹35,300 crore.

UPI-P2M dominated the market with a 74.5% share in June, while credit cards accounted for 20%. The report also noted that nearly two-thirds of UPI-P2M transactions by value were above ₹2,000, indicating increased usage for higher-value payments.

Meanwhile, the number of active cards in circulation remained steady at 11.12 crore during the period.

HDFC Bank led the credit card market in June with the addition of 2.13 lakh new cards, followed by Yes Bank, Federal Bank, SBI Card, and IDFC First Bank. According to Equirus Securities, a total of 13.1 lakh new cards have been issued so far this year.

HDFC Bank also retained its dominance in terms of market share, holding 22% of all cards in force and accounting for 27.9% of total spending.

E-commerce remained the primary driver of credit card usage, contributing 63.1% of total spends in June. The average monthly e-commerce spend per card stood at ₹10,400, significantly higher than the ₹6,100 average at physical point-of-sale (POS) terminals.

Meanwhile, Parliament was informed earlier this week that India recorded over 65,000 crore digital payment transactions between FY20 and FY25, with the cumulative transaction value crossing ₹12,000 lakh crore.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha on July 28, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the government is working closely with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), fintech companies, banks, and state governments to promote the adoption of digital payments, particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

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