1. UPI: The Backbone of India’s wallet PLATFORM' target='_blank' title='digital-Latest Updates, Photos, Videos are a click away, CLICK NOW">digital Payments

The Economic survey 2025–26 highlights India’s Unified Payments Interdata-face (UPI) as the central payment infrastructure driving the country’s wallet PLATFORM' target='_blank' title='digital-Latest Updates, Photos, Videos are a click away, CLICK NOW">digital economy. Its easy, real‑time platform has extended from peer‑to‑peer transfers to daily consumer purchases, bills, and merchant payments — making it a general‑purpose payment instrument nationwide.

2. Record Transaction Growth

UPI continues to post record volumes and values, with monthly transaction volumes exceeding 21 billion and transaction values reaching nearly ₹28 lakh crore in late 2025. This scale underscores how deeply UPI is integrated into everyday financial activity.

3. Boosting Financial Inclusion

The survey stresses that while bank account ownership laid the foundation for inclusion, digital payments — especially UPI — have converted access into active financial engagement. UPI’s ubiquity helps bring previously underserved segments into the formal financial system.

4. Turning Transactions into Credit Histories

A major achievement highlighted in the survey is how UPI’s transaction data is enabling credit growth without worsening default risks:

• Verifiable wallet PLATFORM' target='_blank' title='digital-Latest Updates, Photos, Videos are a click away, CLICK NOW">digital footprints from UPI transactions give lenders better insights into a user’s financial behavior.
• Banks and fintechs are now able to assess creditworthiness even for first‑time or thin‑file borrowers.
• This expanded data ecosystem has allowed credit growth to accelerate into new segments while keeping non‑performing assets in check.

5. Fintechs and Inclusive Lending

Fintech companies are playing a complementary role by using wallet PLATFORM' target='_blank' title='digital-Latest Updates, Photos, Videos are a click away, CLICK NOW">digital rails like UPI and data analytics to offer credit to customers that traditional lenders previously couldn’t serve effectively — further widening financial inclusion.

6. Hybrid Payment Reality

Despite UPI’s prominence, the survey notes that cash remains part of everyday life for many, indicating a blended economy where digital payments and cash coexist.

7. wallet PLATFORM' target='_blank' title='digital-Latest Updates, Photos, Videos are a click away, CLICK NOW">digital Public Infrastructure (DPI): A Platform for Future Growth

UPI is part of a broader Digital Public Infrastructure ecosystem — including Aadhaar‑linked services and wallet PLATFORM' target='_blank' title='digital-Latest Updates, Photos, Videos are a click away, CLICK NOW">digital identity systems — that is reshaping how financial services are delivered, especially in rural and underserved regions.

In summary

The Economic survey 2025–26 positions UPI and wallet PLATFORM' target='_blank' title='digital-Latest Updates, Photos, Videos are a click away, CLICK NOW">digital payments not just as tools of convenience, but as drivers of financial inclusion, credit expansion, and economic empowerment — with data‑driven lending emerging as a new frontier for formal finance in India.

 

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