Bengaluru, India’s Silicon Valley, has topped the list of Indian cities in terms of the largest digital transactions in 2022, according to a survey by a French payment and transactional services organization. According to the Worldline estimate, the city registered 29 million transactions totaling Rs 6500 crore in 2022. 

Second, on the list is Delhi, which had 19.6 million transactions worth 5000 crores, followed by Mumbai, which had 18.7 million transactions totaling 4950 crores. According to the research, Pune ranks fourth with 15 million digital transactions worth 3280 crores, while Chennai ranks fourth with 14.3 million transactions for 3,550 crores.

According to the ‘India Digital Payments Annual Report,’ payment channels such as UPI, Debit and Credit cards, Prepaid Payment Instruments – Mobile, and Prepaid cards handled 87.92 billion transactions valued at 149.5 trillion.

According to the study, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) handled over 74.05 billion transactions in volume and 126 trillion in value. Its transaction volume and value almost quadrupled since last year, with a 91 percent rise in volume and a 76 percent increase in value in the Year 2022 compared to the Year 2021.

According to the report, frequently visited physical merchant categories such as grocery stores, restaurants, clothing and apparel, pharmacy and medical, hotels, jewelry retail, specialty retail, household appliances, and department stores accounted for more than 43 percent in terms of volume and 40 percent in terms of value.

E-commerce (shopping for goods and services), gambling, utilities, and financial services accounted for more than 85 percent of online transactions in terms of volume and 25 percent in terms of value.

Education, travel, and hospitality account for the remaining 15% and 75% of total volume and value.

Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Telangana, Gujarat, West Bengal, and Punjab were the top ten states and union territories in terms of physical contact points in 2022 for Worldline India.

For Worldline India, the top ten cities with the largest number of transactions at physical touchpoints in 2022 were Bengaluru, New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, and Coimbatore.

In terms of debit and credit cards, the volume and value of credit cards were 2.76 billion and 13.12 trillion, respectively. The number of credit card transactions at POS was 1.47 billion, while e-commerce was 1.29 billion. In terms of value, customers spent 5.1 trillion at POS and 8.1 trillion on e-commerce transactions using credit cards in 2022.

In terms of debit card transactions, the volume and value were 3.64 billion and 7.4 trillion, respectively. POS transactions accounted for 2.38 billion of the overall debit card volume, while e-commerce transactions accounted for 1.26 billion. In terms of value, 4.85 trillion was handled at POS terminals, while 2.56 trillion was processed using debit cards at e-commerce.

According to the estimate, there will be 1.02 billion credit and debit cards in circulation by the end of 2022. 

By December 2022, the total number of prepaid payment instruments was 16.23 billion, of which 13.34 billion were wallets and 288.8 million were cards.

In terms of Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU), the transaction volume in the Year 2022 was 985.7 million, while the transaction value was 1.70 trillion, representing a growth rate of 75% and 83 percent in volume and value, respectively, as compared to the Year 2021.

In terms of Aadhar-enabled payment services, AePS transactions totaled approximately 2.63 billion transactions in volume and $3.42 trillion in value. AePS is a bank-led platform that enables online interoperable financial inclusion transactions at PoS (MicroATM) via any bank’s Business correspondent utilizing Aadhaar verification.

I am amazed every day to see the incredible progress we have made in the digital payments ecosystem over the last few years,” said Ramesh Narasimhan, Chief Executive Officer, “Of Worldline India. Adoption of numerous payment systems is a blessing in our drive to fulfill the ideal of a cashless India.”

According to the survey, digital payments will be more popular by 2022, with UPI leading the way. Popular payment instruments such as UPI, cards, and prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) have already surpassed 149.5 trillion in digital transactions by 2022. In its report for 2023 and beyond, Worldline said that it would continue to cooperate with its merchants, partner banks, fintech, and e-commerce firms, as well as invest in the technology and infrastructure required to develop a more inclusive and open financial environment.