UPI In June: Navi, super.money Gain Ground As PhonePe, Google Pay Slip Slightly
In June, players like Navi and super.money saw a marginal jump in their respective market share contrary to PhonePe and Google Pay losing it a bit. WhatsApp surpassed CRED in both UPI market share and transaction volume during the month.
Intelligence analysis by Llama
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) race got more intense in the month of June as market share shifts indicate growing traction for smaller players as they gradually expand their presence in the ecosystem.
Imagine you're at a big party and everyone's using different payment apps. Some people are using Navi and super.money, while others are using PhonePe and Google Pay. In June, Navi and super.money got a little more popular, while PhonePe and Google Pay lost a bit of ground. It's like the party is getting more interesting, and people are trying out new payment apps.
Analysis
A Shift in the UPI Landscape
The month of June saw a significant shift in the UPI landscape, with smaller players like Navi and super.money gaining ground while PhonePe and Google Pay lost some market share. This development is a testament to the growing traction of smaller players in the UPI ecosystem.
Navi, led by Sachin Bansal, processed 84.3 Cr transactions worth ₹43,948.6 Cr in June, up 2.2% from 82.4 Cr transactions worth ₹43,601.7 Cr in May. Similarly, Flipkart-backed super.money recorded 43 Cr transactions worth ₹20,252.40 Cr in the month under review. Both players gained 0.1 percentage points (pp) in their market share for June.
On the other hand, PhonePe recorded 1,048.3 Cr transactions in the month under review. Meanwhile, the transaction value stood at ₹14.2 Lakh Cr in comparison to 1,0734.6 transactions recorded in May. PhonePe's market share for June declined by 0.1 pp to 46.4%. Similarly, Google Pay recorded 740.8 Cr transactions in June against 759.8 Cr transaction volume in May. The player also saw marginal market share loss during the month under review.
WhatsApp surpassed CRED in both UPI market share and transaction volume during the month. In June, the Meta-owned messaging platform processed 15.1 Cr transactions worth ₹11,391.85 Cr, compared to CRED's 14.2 Cr transactions amounting to ₹55,116.8 Cr. While WhatsApp edged ahead in transaction count, CRED continued to lead by a wide margin in transaction value as its users typically undertake significantly higher-value transactions on the platform.
Overall, UPI transaction volume declined 2.1% to 22.72 Bn in June from 23.20 Bn in the previous month. As per the NPCI's data, the total UPI transaction value also decreased 3.3% to ₹28.92 Lakh Cr last month from ₹29.90 Lakh Cr in May. June also saw a decline in the market share acquired by smaller players to 3.6% from 4.3% last month.
The NPCI has proposed a new framework called UPI Meta, also known as UPI Checkout, aiming to facilitate online payments faster by allowing users to save their preferred UPI ID and linked bank account with a merchant. If implemented, users would no longer need to choose between apps such as PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, or WhatsApp for every transaction. Instead, payments could be authenticated directly using a UPI PIN or biometric verification. The move has reportedly been opposed by smaller UPI players.
Smaller UPI apps argue that the proposal could further strengthen the dominance of PhonePe and Google Pay, which together already account for the majority of UPI transaction volumes. Their concern is that users will likely choose their most-used payment app during the initial onboarding process and rarely change that preference.
Key points
- Navi and super.money gained ground in the UPI market share in June.
- PhonePe and Google Pay lost some market share in June.
- WhatsApp surpassed CRED in both UPI market share and transaction volume in June.
- UPI transaction volume declined 2.1% in June from the previous month.
- The NPCI has proposed a new framework called UPI Meta to facilitate online payments faster.
If the NPCI's proposed UPI Meta framework is implemented, it could lead to faster and more convenient online payments, which could benefit both consumers and merchants. Additionally, the growing traction of smaller players in the UPI ecosystem could lead to increased competition and innovation in the digital payments space.
If the NPCI's proposed UPI Meta framework is opposed by smaller UPI players, it could lead to further consolidation in the digital payments space, with PhonePe and Google Pay potentially gaining even more market share. Additionally, the decline in UPI transaction volume and value could have negative implications for the overall digital payments ecosystem.
