UPI processed a record 24.51 billion transactions in August 2026, up 3.6% from July, as digital payments keep climbing across India.

This is the first time UPI has crossed the 24 billion mark in a single month. The National Payments Corporation of India, which runs the UPI network, released these numbers on Tuesday.

Compared to the same month last year, transaction volumes grew 22%, a sign that more people are choosing UPI over cash for everyday purchases.

Interestingly, the total money moving through UPI didn’t grow at the same pace. Transactions worth ₹29.82 lakh crore went through in August, actually a touch lower than the ₹29.88 lakh crore recorded in July.

On a yearly basis though, the value was still up 20%. What this really shows is that people are using UPI more often, but mostly for smaller, everyday payments rather than big-ticket ones.

The daily numbers tell a similar story. India averaged 791 million UPI transactions a day in August, up from 763 million in July. On average, each day saw about ₹96,205 crore worth of payments, roughly the same as the month before.

Industry voices tied this growth to the festive season, which typically sees a jump in spending on gifting, travel, food and everyday shopping.

Some payment company executives pointed out that a big chunk of this growth is coming from small towns and rural areas, where UPI is increasingly replacing cash for local shopping and kirana store purchases.

Festivals like Raksha Bandhan also gave a noticeable push to small peer-to-peer transfers and gifting payments during the month.

With the festive season only just getting started, and UPI now accepted in eleven countries including Uzbekistan, this record run looks likely to continue over the coming months.

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