Summer travel and IPL fever pushed transactions through the popular Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to a record high of ₹29.90 lakh crore and 23.2 billion in value and volume terms, respectively, in May, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said the value of transactions was at ₹29.03 lakh crore in April against ₹25.14 lakh crore in the same month a year ago, registering a 19% growth on an annual basis.

In volume terms, it set a new record with 23.2 billion transactions during the month, up 24% from 18.67 billion in the corresponding period.

The UPI transaction in volume terms was 22.35 billion recorded in April, 2026.

According to Cashfree Payments co-founder & CEO Akash Sinha, May's numbers reflect strong organic demand. Summer travel, IPL 2026, and seasonal consumer spending drove 23.20 billion transactions worth ₹29.90 lakh crore during the month, which is a healthy month-on-month recovery and a continuation of UPI's steady upward trajectory.

The RBI's Payments Systems Report shows UPI's average ticket size has declined from ₹1,848 in 2021 to ₹1,313 in 2025, he said, adding, this is not a concern, it is a sign of a maturing ecosystem.

"The next growth frontier will be additive to all of this. Credit-on-UPI is still in early innings and represents a significant new volume pool. Cross-border UPI is live in over eight countries and expanding, bringing a whole new transaction category onto the rails," he added.

UPI already live in seven countries, including the UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, and Mauritius.

NPCI, an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks' Association, is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India (IBA).

It runs the UPI used for real-time payments between peers or at merchants' end while making purchases.