5 Biggest UPI apps in India right now; what’s behind the slow growth and why it is not a worry sign

PhonePe

and

Google Pay

maintained their dominance in the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) ecosystem in May, capturing significant market shares in both transaction volume and value, as per data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), as reported by Economic Times. PhonePe, gearing up for a listing on the Indian stock market, reportedly captured nearly half the UPI market last month, processing Rs 12.56 lakh crore across 8.7 billion transactions, representing 50% of the total UPI value and 47% of the volume.Google Pay, the second-largest UPI platform, handled 6.7 billion transactions worth Rs 8.85 lakh crore, accounting for 37% of the volume and over 35% of the value in May, per NPCI data cited by the Economic Times.

Paytm, operated by One97 Communications, trailed in third with 1.27 billion transactions valued at Rs 1.38 lakh crore, holding 7% of the volume and 5.55% of the value.

Navi

, owned by Sachin Bansal, and Flipkart’s

super.money

ranked as the fourth and fifth largest UPI apps, respectively, the report noted.According to a report last month, PhonePe derives 95% of its revenue from

digital payments

, with UPI being central to its business. Merchant payment firms like Pine Labs, preparing for an IPO, and Razorpay, eyeing a 2026 public listing, also rely heavily on UPI transactions.

UPI processed 18.68 billion transactions in May, up 4.4% from April’s decline, totaling Rs 25.14 lakh crore in value, compared to Rs 23.95 lakh crore in April, according to NPCI data. The platform has seen rapid growth since its 2016 launch, though its expansion is slowing. However, experts say the slow down in growth is coming as UPI expansion is reaching near saturation.UPI platforms faced monetization challenges after hopes of reinstating the merchant discount rate (MDR) were dashed by the finance ministry recently, impacting listed payment firms. The Ministry of Finance has clarified that there was no plan to reintroduce the merchant discount rate (MDR) on payments done via UPI.