National Common Mobility Card (NCMC)An open-loop transit card, interoperable across city transit systems, running on the RuPay network with an offline stored-value wallet. Several countries in the region are watching this “open-loop transit” model.NPCI / Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs · since 2019
Global registry · Asia-Pacific · South Asia
India Payment systems
33 systems listed.
CurrencyIndian rupee (INR)
Domestic schemeRuPay
RegulatorRBI / NPCI
Leading payment methods
UPICards (RuPay, Visa, MC)WalletsCash on delivery
E-commerce shares
Wallets · 68%Cards · 15%Account-to-account · 5%Buy now, pay later · 5%Cash · 4%Other · 3%
UPI (Unified Payments Interface). NPCI’s public infrastructure (2016): more than 18 billion transactions a month by mid-2025 (about 85% of retail payment volume), through PhonePe, Google Pay, or Paytm. Free for users, interoperable via QR or alias, and now accepted in Singapore, the UAE, France (through Lyra), and Sri Lanka.
UPI transactions>18B a month (mid-2025, NPCI)
UPI share of digital retail payments≈85% of volume
PhonePe + Google Pay duopoly≈85% of UPI volume
A pillar of the “India Stack” (Aadhaar identity + Jan Dhan accounts + UPI). The fully free model is ending: from October 15, 2026, NPCI will charge 0.40% on merchant payments above ₹2,000, and everything else stays free. The concentration of PhonePe + Google Pay (~85% of volume) is the other big issue.
Learn about this market. The guides and courses that cover it.
Payments in IndiaRuPay, cards, and tokenization in IndiaPayments in Oceania and CanadaPayments in Central AsiaPayments in South Asia outside IndiaPayments in Southeast AsiaAccepting payments in IndiaUPI in depth: integration and operationsAccepting payments in Australia and New ZealandAccepting payments in Indonesia and ThailandAccepting payments in Japan and South KoreaAccepting payments in Southeast Asia
Card schemes
RuPayNational scheme born of a push for sovereignty and low interchange costs, and promoted heavily through the PMJDY financial inclusion program. Its real breakthrough is RuPay Credit on UPI: the credit card becomes an instrument you pay with by scanning a QR code, something no other market has achieved at scale.NPCI · since 2012More than 50% of cards issued in India (RBI/NPCI); about 18% of the credit card market in 2025 (Indian press, unofficial)
RuPay (international)Indian domestic card scheme with export ambitions: NIPL sells the RuPay/UPI architecture to other countries’ central banks, with agreements signed in several countries in Africa, the Gulf, and Latin America. The business model is no longer acceptance but the sale of a sovereign software stack.NPCI (through NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL)) · since 2012
RuPay Credit Card on UPILets cardholders link a RuPay credit card to a UPI ID and pay by scanning a merchant QR code, authenticating with their UPI PIN. It changes the economics of acceptance: merchants take credit payments on a QR code, with no terminal. The scope is deliberately narrow: cash withdrawal at the merchant, P2P, and card-to-card payments are excluded, and standard UPI limits apply. Visa and Mastercard have no equivalent on this rail.National Payments Corporation of India
Instant payments
Immediate Payment Service (IMPS)India’s first instant rail, predating UPI. It has not gone away: it remains the preferred channel for medium and large amounts above UPI limits and serves as the underlying rail for many mobile bank transfers.NPCI · since 2010Value growing about 4 times faster than volume (CAGR of 18.1% vs. 4.5%); usage concentrated in the ₹50,000–₹500,000 band (NPST analysis of RBI data, 2026)
IMPS (Immediate Payment Service)India’s pre-UPI instant rail, addressed by account number and IFSC or by MMID. It is still used for large amounts and corporate flows, with higher limits than UPI.NPCI · since 2010volumes steadily declining as UPI takes over (NPCI, 2025–2026); figure not available
Unified Payments Interface (UPI)The world’s benchmark rail for instant retail payments: proxy addressing (VPA, mobile number), open APIs, and full interoperability between banks and third-party apps (TPAPs). It accounts for nearly half of global real-time volume. Any India strategy goes through a TPAP or PSP-bank partnership, since direct access is limited to banks.National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) (under an RBI mandate) · since 201623.2 billion transactions worth ₹29.9 trillion in May 2026 (NPCI, reported by the Indian press); 241.62 billion transactions worth ₹314 lakh crore in fiscal 2025-26 (+30.0% by volume)
UPI 123PAYUPI on feature phones, via IVR, missed calls, an embedded app, or sound waves. It targets the roughly 400 million users without a smartphone and is a rare example of an instant rail explicitly designed for them.NPCI · since 2022
Clearing and settlement
Cheque Truncation System (CTS)Check image clearing, which moved to continuous same-day settlement in 2025. Residual in volume, but still important for certain corporate and legal flows.Reserve Bank of India · since 2008Paper accounts for less than 0.3% of payment volume (RBI, 2025 report)
NACH (National Automated Clearing House)India’s bulk clearing system for recurring mandates (salaries, subsidies, direct debits): the rail for direct benefit transfers to about 1 billion beneficiaries.NPCI · since 2016
National Automated Clearing House (NACH) / APBSThe rail for recurring direct debits (EMIs, insurance premiums, SIPs) and, through the Aadhaar Payment Bridge System (APBS), for direct benefit transfers (DBT) to hundreds of millions of beneficiaries identified by Aadhaar number instead of bank account details.NPCI · since 2016NACH Debit: value CAGR of about 27% (NPST analysis of RBI data, 2026)
National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT)Batch clearing with deferred net settlement, available 24/7/365 since December 2019. It remains the rail for corporate transfers and for amounts with no cap, where UPI has limits.Reserve Bank of India (RBI) · since 2005Volume growth of about 700% over 2014–2023 (RBI); peak of 41 million transactions in a single day (RBI, March 2024)
NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer)Batch credit transfer rail that went 24/7 in 2019; it remains in use for uncapped transfers and institutional flows that UPI does not cover.Reserve Bank of India · since 2005
Wallets
BHIMThe government’s flagship UPI app. Its commercial failure against private apps is instructive: on an open rail, the infrastructure operator does not automatically win the app layer.NPCI (transferred to NPCI BHIM Services Ltd) · since 2016
UPI Lite / UPI Lite XIn-app wallet debited without a PIN below a low limit, to take micropayments off bank servers. Lite X adds offline payments over NFC. The engineering detail that matters: it is India’s answer to the unit cost of a free rail.NPCI · since 2022
PaytmPayment super app and third-party application provider (TPAP) on UPI, with a merchant acceptance base built on QR codes, the Soundbox, and Android terminals. A common trap: the end of Paytm Payments Bank did not mean the end of Paytm. The payment service still operates through partner banks on the UPI rails.One97 Communications Limited (listed on Indian stock exchanges since November 2021; not to be confused with Paytm Payments Bank Ltd, a separate banking entity restricted by the Reserve Bank of India under a directive of January 31, 2024, effective March 15, 2024, whose license was then revoked on April 24, 2026) · since 2010
PhonePeIndia's leading app by UPI volume. Before any integration in India, understand the split between the app and the bank: PhonePe works on bank accounts through the UPI API and is neither an issuer nor a holder of funds. Together, PhonePe and Google Pay handled nearly 79% of UPI volume in June 2026, which explains the recurring debate over a market share cap.PhonePe (third-party app provider (TPAP) connected to UPI: it does not issue money or hold funds, which stay in customers' bank accounts)10,483.73 million UPI transactions in June 2026, out of a UPI total of 22,716.07 million that month, or about 46% of volume (NPCI, UPI app statistics and UPI product statistics, June 2026)
Google Pay (India)The second-largest app by UPI volume. Same architecture as PhonePe: a third-party app connected to the rail that does not hold funds. This entry is separate from the Google Wallet entry, which covers the US product. Mixing up the two leads to integrations that cannot work, because the user flows and the legal entities differ.Google (the Indian app is run by Google's Indian subsidiary as a third-party app provider (TPAP) connected to UPI; not to be confused with Google Wallet, a separate product run by Google LLC in the US)7,407.71 million UPI transactions in June 2026, out of a UPI total of 22,716.07 million that month, or about 33% of volume (NPCI, UPI app statistics and UPI product statistics, June 2026)
Paytm Payments BankDiscontinuedA regulatory textbook case, now closed. The Reserve Bank of India canceled the banking license by an order dated April 24, 2026, effective at the close of business that day, under Section 22(4) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The Delhi High Court then ordered the bank wound up in rulings on July 8 and 22, 2026, and appointed an official liquidator, who has exercised the board's powers since July 8, 2026. Cite it whenever a company builds its wallet on a single license: the Paytm brand survived by moving to a multibank model, but the bank did not.Paytm Payments Bank Limited (entity in liquidation, separate from One97 Communications Limited, which operates the Paytm brand)
Buy now, pay later
ZestMoneyDiscontinuedThe emblem of the end of India’s BNPL cycle: a failed acquisition by PhonePe, the founders’ departure, then a shutdown announced in December 2023 and completed in 2024, against the backdrop of an RBI circular banning credit lines on prepaid payment instruments (PPIs). Market studies still cite it as active, but it is not.ZestMoney (Camden Town Technologies) · since 2015
Acquiring and processing
National Financial Switch (NFS)The national interbank ATM switch. Often overlooked because it is invisible, it underpins interoperability across India’s entire ATM fleet and the interchange rules that go with it.NPCI (handed over by IDRBT in 2009) · since 2004
Cross-border rails
LuLu ExchangeA Gulf exchange house structured as a multi-country group and present at both ends of the Gulf–South Asia corridor: sending in the Middle East, payout in India and Southeast Asia. A model halfway between a traditional exchange bureau and a digital remittance operator.LuLu Financial Holdings (Abu Dhabi-based group operating in the Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, and Asia-Pacific under the LuLu Exchange, LuLu Forex, LuLu Money, and LuLu Financial Services brands)Networks reported by the group: 34 branches in Oman, 27 in India (LuLu Forex), 6 in the Philippines, and 5 in Hong Kong (LuLu Financial Holdings, official website, accessed August 2026)
Central bank digital currency
e₹ (Digital Rupee)PilotA large but deliberately cautious pilot, in a country where UPI makes a retail CBDC hard to justify economically. The RBI is shifting its focus to cross-border use and targeted programmability (subsidies, farm loans) rather than everyday payments.Reserve Bank of India · since 2022
e₹ (Digital Rupee): retail (e₹-R) and wholesale (e₹-W)PilotClosed user group pilot, launched in December 2022 with four banks in four cities. The key figure is the shrinking amount in circulation: the retail CBDC is not finding a market against UPI. The live use cases are programmability (food subsidies in Gujarat, Puducherry, and Chandigarh) and the Unified Markets Interface for tokenization in wholesale CBDC.Reserve Bank of India · since 2022₹771.7 crore in circulation as of March 31, 2026, down 24% year over year (RBI, 2025–26 annual report)
Other
Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS)Cash withdrawals, deposits, and payments authenticated with Aadhaar biometrics at a business correspondent (banking agent), with no card or phone. It is India’s rural inclusion rail, and also a documented fraud vector that led the RBI to tighten operator onboarding in 2025.NPCI · since 2011
Bharat Connect (formerly Bharat Bill Payment System, BBPS)An interoperable bill payment rail: a biller connects once and becomes payable from any app. The 2024 rebrand widened the mandate beyond bills (mutual fund SIPs, e-commerce EMIs, government payments). Its standardization of bill flows makes it a model with no equivalent anywhere.NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd (NPCI subsidiary) · since 2017Value grew from ₹0.96 lakh crore (2021) to ₹14.8 lakh crore (2025); more than 22,000 billers and more than 700 payment channels (NPCI Bharat BillPay)
Interchange framework: zero MDR on RuPay debit cards and BHIM-UPI (India)The only major market to have set interchange to zero by law on its national scheme. The key effect: RuPay debit issuance no longer has a business model on the issuer side and exists only because of regulatory mandates and public incentives, the exact opposite of the Visa/Mastercard model. Visa and Mastercard debit cards in India, by contrast, still carry a negotiated MDR, so the regime tilts the field toward the national scheme, unlike in Brazil.Indian Ministry of Finance, Reserve Bank of India, NPCI · since 2020Regulatory MDR set to zero on RuPay debit cards and BHIM-UPI since January 1, 2020 (Income-tax Act section 269SU, inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act 2019; PIB). Decision of September 15, 2026: NPCI introduces a 0.40% fee on person-to-merchant UPI payments above ₹2,000, capped at ₹300, effective October 15, 2026. Person-to-person payments, purchases below the threshold, and merchants collecting up to ₹1 lakh (₹100,000) a month remain free; RuPay debit still carries zero interchange.
Co-badging framework: RBI circular on card network choice and the end of issuer-network exclusivity (India)It bars issuers from signing exclusivity agreements with a network and requires them to offer customers a choice of network (Visa, Mastercard, RuPay, or Diners/Amex, depending on the issuer) at issuance and renewal. It is the functional equivalent of Article 8 of the IFR, but applied at the issuer and contract level rather than to the card itself: the customer picks ONE network, and there is no co-badged card with two applications. Any regulator considering opening up co-badging needs to understand both models, their implementation costs, and their real effect on routing.Reserve Bank of India · since 2024In effect since September 6, 2024, following a draft circular dated July 5, 2023 (RBI, notification no. 12619). The portfolio-size thresholds for applicability have not been cross-checked.
e-RUPIA digital, purpose-bound voucher (prepaid and delivered by SMS or QR code) that requires no account or app on the recipient’s side. A conceptual forerunner of the “programmability” the RBI is now testing on its CBDC.NPCI (with the Department of Financial Services and the Health Ministry) · since 2021
National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) / FASTagInteroperable RFID tolling, mandatory on national highways. A closed but massive rail backed by prepaid wallets, it gave the RBI hands-on experience in regulating limited-use prepaid instruments.NPCI · since 2016
RTGS (India)India’s RTGS, available 24/7 since December 2020, with a ₹2 lakh (₹200,000) minimum: a rare case of an RTGS that never closes.Reserve Bank of India · since 2004
RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement)Gross settlement in central bank money, with a ₹2 lakh minimum, available 24/7 since December 2020: one of the few RTGS systems in the world that run continuously. It is the final settlement point for all Indian retail systems.Reserve Bank of India · since 200433 crore (330 million) transactions worth ₹2,206 lakh crore in calendar 2025, compared with 20 crore and ₹1,246 lakh crore in 2021 (RBI)
RuPay / RuPay GlobalA domestic scheme that has become structurally dominant. It is the only network allowed to link a credit card to UPI, which explains its breakthrough in credit (from about 3% to about 16–18% in two years). RuPay debit has carried a zero MDR since January 2020: interchange is zero by law, which eliminates the issuer-side business model. International acceptance runs through RuPay Global, issued on the Discover Global Network and JCB platforms. RuPay has no international network of its own.National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) (nonprofit owned by the banks, supervised by the Reserve Bank of India) · since 2012More than 760 million RuPay cards issued across all products (NPCI, 2024). For context: 1,005.2 million debit cards and 111.2 million credit cards were in circulation in India in June 2025 (RBI, Payment System Report, June 2025). RuPay’s share of credit is estimated at about 18% in 2025 by secondary sources, not cross-checked.