RuPay, India’s homegrown card network, is steadily increasing its footprint in the country’s digital payments ecosystem. According to Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), RuPay now accounts for 16% of all credit card spending in India, with nearly half of these transactions happening through credit on UPI (Unified Payments Interface).
Speaking at Mumbai Tech Week 2025, Asbe highlighted the rapid growth of RuPay credit cards, noting that over 30 banks now issue RuPay credit cards.
Surging RuPay Credit Card Transactions on UPI
Recent data from the Ministry of Finance reveals that RuPay credit cards linked to UPI have recorded over 750 million transactions in the current fiscal year (up to October 2024), amounting to INR 63,825.8 crore. This marks a significant jump from the previous year, which saw 362.8 million transactions worth INR 33,439.2 crore.
Despite RuPay’s rising popularity, Visa and Mastercard still dominate India’s credit card market. However, the seamless integration of RuPay credit cards with UPI, India’s most widely used digital payment system, has given RuPay a unique advantage.
RBI’s Role in Strengthening RuPay’s Position
RuPay’s growth has been fueled by key regulatory decisions:
- June 2022: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved UPI integration with RuPay credit cards, making it the only credit card network in India linked to UPI.
- October 2023: NPCI introduced interchange fees for UPI-based RuPay credit card transactions, but small merchants were exempted from these charges.
- March 2024: The RBI mandated that banks offer customers multiple card network options, preventing exclusive agreements with Visa or Mastercard and giving RuPay a level playing field.
Global Expansion and NPCI’s R&D Plans
Beyond India, NPCI is setting its sights on global expansion. Asbe announced that NPCI is developing a research and development (R&D) center with a 5,000-person capacity to support its international growth.
He also noted that representatives from around 70 countries have visited NPCI’s offices in recent years, indicating strong global interest in India’s digital payments model.
Government Cuts RuPay Promotion Incentives
While RuPay’s growth is notable, the Indian government is scaling back financial incentives that previously encouraged the adoption of RuPay debit cards and low-value UPI transactions.
- The Union Budget 2025 has allocated only INR 437 crore for promoting RuPay debit cards and small-value BHIM-UPI transactions (up to INR 2,000)—a significant drop from INR 2,000 crore in the last fiscal year.
- The initial allocation for 2024 was INR 1,441 crore, which was later revised upwards to INR 2,000 crore.
- This reduction follows a trend where the government has gradually scaled back funding for these incentives, which originally started with INR 2,484 crore in 2023.
UPI Transactions Hit Record Highs
Despite the cuts in incentives, UPI continues to break records. In January 2025, UPI transactions hit an all-time high of 16.99 billion, growing 1.5% from 16.73 billion transactions in December.
The total transaction value in January stood at INR 23.48 lakh crore, slightly up from INR 23.25 lakh crore in December. This reinforces UPI’s status as India’s dominant digital payment system.
RuPay is steadily carving out a larger space in India’s credit card ecosystem, thanks to UPI integration and supportive regulatory changes. While Visa and Mastercard still dominate, RuPay’s unique position as the sole UPI-linked credit card network gives it a strong edge.
However, the government’s decision to reduce financial incentives for RuPay and low-value UPI transactions indicates that it is shifting focus away from direct subsidies and allowing the market to drive adoption.
As UPI transactions continue to break records and NPCI looks toward global expansion, India’s digital payments ecosystem is poised for even greater transformation in the years ahead.
