The way India pays has changed. A decade ago, handing over a Rs 100 note for a cup of coffee felt natural. Today, scanning a QR code is second nature. The numbers say it all. In October 2025, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed an average of ₹94,000 crore every single day. That’s not just a festive season spike; it’s a sign of a country that made digital payments a daily reflex.
It started as an experiment by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2016, but has now become the very backbone of India’s financial ecosystem.
A daily routine
When UPI was first launched, the goal was to make money move as easily as sending a message. Fast forward to 2025, and that mission has transformed how Indians spend, save, and think about money. Demonetisation pushed people to experiment. The pandemic cemented those habits, and the convenience of one-tap transactions turned a temporary shift into a permanent lifestyle change.
Today, from ordering groceries to paying school fees, UPI is used everywhere by almost everyone. It is not restricted to metro areas; even in small towns, local vendors display their QR codes proudly and accept digital payments.
The trust dividend
Trust is the real currency of digital payments. Indians, once hesitant about online banking, are doing online transactions without a second thought. But this transformation didn’t happen overnight. It came from strong guardrails, be it RBI regulations, NPCI’s backbone or visible refund assurances from platforms like Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm.
Shift in the mindset of small merchants
Perhaps the most powerful impact of UPI has been on India’s small merchants. From kirana stores in Kochi to tea stalls in Assam, QR codes have become a symbol of inclusion. Digital payments come with a lot of benefits for them, for example, they reduce the risk of theft, serve customers faster and offer many other advantages.
For these entrepreneurs, UPI is about going limitless. It has turned informal businesses into traceable, credible, and scalable ventures.
The psychology of habit formation
Habits are born when something is both easy and repeated often. That’s exactly what has happened in the case of UPI. It’s absolutely hassle-free– no change, no delays, no wallets. Once people feel that convenience, going back to cash feels outdated. Imagine counting cash and coins, handing it over to the vendor and then waiting for the vendor to verify the amount.
What started as a new way to pay has quietly turned into second nature. For many, scanning a QR code or tapping ‘send’ is as natural as checking WhatsApp.
It’s interesting to note how the digital habit has spread across every section of society. A teenager paying for coffee, a homemaker buying groceries online, or an elderly person paying their electricity bill, everyone uses UPI as per their comfort and convenience. It has blurred the lines between age groups, professions, and even cities. In small towns and metros alike, people trust that one simple tap will get the job done. That reassuring ‘ting’ after the transaction is done successfully feels like ticking a task off the to-do list.
The next chapter
UPI’s journey is entering another exciting phase. New features like UPI Lite allow small payments to be made even without an internet connection. Similarly, UPI AutoPlay helps users manage recurring expenses, whether it be insurance premiums or OTT subscriptions. And then there’s Credit-on-UPI, a true game-changing feature that can redefine how people borrow money.
UPI isn’t restricted to India. It is also accepted in other countries like Nepal, UAE, Mauritius, Singapore, France and Bhutan, which shows that India’s homegrown system can soon become a model for the world. The same QR code that works at a local chai stall might one day work in another country.
If the last decade was about teaching people how to use UPI, the next will be about what more they can do with it. UPI is slowly becoming the foundation for everything, from credit and insurance to savings and investments.
The final word
Recording ₹94,000-crore UPI transactions daily in October shows how deeply digital payments have become woven into India’s way of life. UPI has transformed trust into technology and technology into habit.
UPI has become the backbone of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), alongside Aadhaar and DigiLocker. This ecosystem is quietly fuelling new-age entrepreneurship. From delivery partners to local artisans, millions of micro and small businesses are expanding because of the ease and transparency UPI brings.
In many ways, UPI is now part of India’s digital soft power. As India continues to lead conversations around digital inclusion at the global level, UPI stands as an example of what technology can achieve when it truly reaches people.
This ₹94,000-crore habit is the story of a nation moving forward.
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