India’s homegrown Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has revolutionised the nation’s digital economy, now facilitating 85 percent of all digital transactions in the country, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra. Speaking at a high-level dialogue organised by the RBI on the sidelines of the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings in Washington, Governor Malhotra said India’s success with Digital Public Platforms (DPPs) offers a model of inclusive, secure, and scalable digital transformation for the world.
“About 85 per cent of the digital payment transactions in India today take place through UPI. Nearly 20 billion transactions are made using UPI every month, representing a value of over USD 280 billion,” Malhotra said, underscoring UPI’s role as a critical Digital Public Platform driving financial inclusion and economic resilience.
UPI: The cornerstone of India’s digital payment revolution
Since its inception in 2016, UPI has fundamentally reshaped India’s payment ecosystem, enabling real-time money transfers between bank accounts with unprecedented speed, reliability, and convenience. What began as a government-backed innovation has today become a global symbol of digital empowerment.
Governor Malhotra highlighted that the Unified Payments Interface is not merely a financial tool but a social and economic equaliser, empowering millions of small vendors, micro-enterprises, and rural citizens to participate in the formal economy.
“Small vendors and micro enterprises can now accept digital payments, build transaction histories, and access formal credit at much lower costs,” Malhotra said. “UPI is a powerful catalyst accelerating financial inclusion and promoting equitable growth.”
According to the RBI, UPI’s success demonstrates how digital trust infrastructure, when built as a public good, can drive both innovation and inclusion simultaneously, without relying on profit motives or monopolistic control.
India’s digital public platforms: A global case study
Addressing the session titled “Forging Economic Resilience through Digital Public Platforms,” Malhotra presented India’s broader Digital Public Platform (DPP) ecosystem, which includes Aadhaar (digital identity), UPI (real-time payments), and DigiLocker (data sharing infrastructure) among others.
“In the true spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the world is one family, India is fully committed to international collaboration around such platforms to accelerate digital transformation globally,” he affirmed.
He explained that Digital Public Platforms (DPPs) have emerged as a powerful catalyst for inclusive growth, innovation, and public service delivery, particularly during periods of global economic uncertainty. By combining open technology architecture with transparent governance, India has built one of the world’s most trusted digital ecosystems, offering lessons for other developing economies.
‘Built as public good, not for profit’
Governor Malhotra mentioned that India’s guiding philosophy has been to develop core digital infrastructure in the public sector, not as a profit-driven enterprise but as a public good with clear guardrails to ensure trust, privacy, and inclusivity.
“For us, the guiding principle has been to build such platforms in the public sector as a public good with suitable guardrails, and without a profit motive,” he said. “Public and private sector entities can then leverage these platforms to rapidly develop applications across credit, health, social protection, agriculture, and several other domains.”
This open-access approach has encouraged fintech startups, government agencies, and private innovators to build on shared infrastructure, resulting in one of the world’s most dynamic fintech ecosystems.
Digital inclusion beyond borders: MOSIP for the world
In addition to India’s domestic digital success, Governor Malhotra introduced the Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP), a globally shareable model developed by India to help other nations build their own secure digital identity systems.
“This free, secure, and scalable platform allows countries to design their own national digital ID systems,” he said. “As many as 27 countries are either adopting or considering MOSIP-based systems to deliver essential services quickly and directly to their citizens.”
MOSIP, originally developed in collaboration with global partners and Indian technologists, is now helping countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to implement cost-effective, transparent, and citizen-centric digital identity frameworks.
UPI’s expanding global footprint
UPI’s influence has already crossed borders, with countries like Singapore, UAE, Bhutan, Nepal, France, and Sri Lanka integrating or collaborating with India to enable cross-border UPI transactions. These partnerships are helping build a global digital payment network that prioritises transparency, interoperability, and affordability over profit.
Analysts note that this model can help developing economies leapfrog traditional banking systems, bringing millions into the formal financial sector through mobile-led innovation.
The spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
Echoing the theme of India’s G20 Presidency, Governor Malhotra reiterated that digital inclusion must be global, not confined to national boundaries.
“We believe that the benefits of DPPs should be available to the whole world, in the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the world is one family,” he said.
He added that India stands ready to share its expertise, software frameworks, and governance models to help nations strengthen their digital resilience, reduce transaction costs, and improve service delivery.
UPI by the Numbers
85 percent of all digital transactions in India are now made via UPI.
Over 20 billion transactions processed monthly.
Transaction value exceeds USD 280 billion per month.
UPI adoption in over 7 crore small merchants nationwide.
Accepted in 10+ international markets through collaborations.
A model for the digital world
India’s success with UPI and its Digital Public Infrastructure demonstrates that financial inclusion and innovation can coexist when technology is developed as a public utility rather than a private commodity.
Governor Malhotra’s remarks reaffirm that India’s digital journey, rooted in trust, scale, and public ownership could serve as a global blueprint for inclusive digital transformation, especially for emerging economies seeking to strengthen financial systems without deep capital investment.
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