Summary of this article
UPI Autopay volumes up more than twice since last year
Relaxation of autopay limits aid boost in transaction volumes
The autopay interface of Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has seen volumes more than double since last year, data from National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) showed. While UPI has become increasingly popular for merchant payments, the rise in volumes of UPI autopay was primarily due to the easing of mandates and an increase in transaction limits.
Combined volumes of the top 10 banks that processed UPI autopay were over 927 million, up from over 383 million for the 10 banks in November last year.
Which Bank Tops In UPI Volumes
The composition of the 10 top banks has changed from a year ago, but the State Bank of India (SBI) continued to hold the top spot. SBI alone processed over 290 million UPI autopay transactions in November, up from over 164 million processed a year ago.
In November, other than SBI, the four other banks that made it to the top five charts were Bank of Baroda (BoB), Airtel Payments Bank, followed by Union Bank of India and Punjab National Bank. These four banks grossed a total volume of 329.03 million in the last month. Compared to this, in November last year, the four banks that made it to tthe op five were Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, BoB, and Union Bank. These four banks had a combined volume of 210 million last year.
UPI Becoming A Preferred Mode Of Payment
With UPI allowing the use of net banking and debit cards to process payments, transactions in UPI saw a boost. The growth also highlights UPI becoming a preferred mode of payment for many.
The rise in transaction volumes in UPI autopay was also due to the increase in transaction limit that the NPCI allowed in December last year for recurring payments. The relaxed limits now allow retail payments up to Rs 1 lakh to be transacted through the autopay gateway without the requirement of a second factor verification.
The change in mandates for UPI autopay still only allows mutual fund payments, credit card bills, or insurance premiums to be paid through the autopay model. Under this mode, the pin is not required for processing every transaction. For recurring payments made under any other categories, the transaction limit stands at Rs 15,000, where a second factor or a pin authentication is not required.
