Summary of this article
RuPay credit on UPI pushes borrowing into daily spending
Transaction share jumps rapidly as usage scales across small-ticket payments
Regulatory backing and deep QR penetration drive adoption at pace
The integration of RuPay credit cards with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has triggered a significant shift in the credit consumption patterns of India. This movement has shifted credit usage from high-value, discretionary spending to high-frequency, small-ticket daily transactions. As of late 2025, RuPay emerged as a formidable challenger to global networks. It captured a 38 per cent share of all credit card transactions in India by volume.
Market Share and Transaction Trends
According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the market share of RuPay within the credit space was up at 18 per cent, by value, as of now. This is a significant rise considering that it was only about 3 per cent two years ago. The surge is led by the scan-and-pay convenience, with credit usage moving to over 50 million merchant QR points, outpacing the around 12 million traditional PoS terminals in the country.
The number of credit transactions on RuPay using UPI has more than doubled between April and October 2024. In this period, the number of transactions is 750 million, with a total amount of Rs 63,826 crore, according to Parliament data presented by Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary. Although the average value of transactions made with normal credit cards is quite large at above Rs 4,000, in RuPay-UPI, the average is around Rs 1,125. This indicates that the network is being used for routine expenses such as groceries, fuel, and utilities rather than just luxury purchases.
The Credit Evolution
Akshay Aedula, Product & Growth, CRED, points out that this technology is disrupting and changing the paradigm. "The credit cards provided by RuPay are changing the landscape of credit offered in India," says Aedula.
Aedula continues, "The ease of use is the primary factor driving the customers. UPI has removed the friction points of using credit, and consumers have understood that they don't need to sacrifice convenience in favour of rewards.” This is also helping RuPay to compete in the higher market segments. Aedula states, "That is how the evolution is seen in RuPay’s stack; it is also evidenced by RuPay Ekaa launching the Sovereign Card, thus entering the super-premium segment."
Infrastructure and Regulatory Support
The regulatory support has played a major role in facilitating the adoption. The fact that the Merchant Discount Rates (MDR) are not being charged for transactions below Rs 2,000 has supported small merchants in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Tokenisation has also added to the expansion. Aedula said, "Tokenisation completes the loop. As more merchants support tokenised flows, RuPay cards experience hassle-free payments, leading to repeated usage, and all these are directly contributing to growth in spends."
Today, the number of active credit cards in the Indian market is estimated at 11.33 crores. One-third of the number of credit cards issued recently is from RuPay. "Taken together, the RuPay cards are changing the dynamics of credit disbursement and usage by seamlessly integrating with the payment culture prevalent in the Indian market today," concluded Aedula. With the developments taking place in the ecosystem, the reward programs are also being rewritten, signalling the changes taking place in how consumers are accessing credit.
