NPCI’s Strategic Focus Areas in 2025

• Current Monthly Users: 400–450 million
• Potential: Over 1 billion users and 100–150 billion monthly transactions
• Strategy:
  • Broaden user and merchant base
  • Introduce new use cases
  • Invest in user onboarding and digital payment habits
  • Safety campaigns to build trust

Enabling Credit Access Through UPI

• Credit Line on UPI: Designed for low-ticket, high-frequency credit, addressing gaps traditional credit cards miss
• Support System: RBI and Government backing crucial
• Impact: Expands formal credit access with UPI’s existing digital footprint

Investing in Advanced Technology

• Focus Areas:
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) – Real-time fraud detection
  • Blockchain – For secure, scalable infrastructure
  • Digital Currency – Future-ready payments integration
• Performance: Fraud kept below 1 basis point of UPI value

Global Expansion of UPI Technology

• Progress in 7 countries with merchant enablement
• 4–5 additional countries exploring the UPI tech stack
• Challenge: Regulatory cooperation is key to cross-border success

System Resilience and Infrastructure Expansion

• Recent Outage (March 26):
  • Brief hour-long issue resolved with hardware replacement
  • Root cause analysis completed
• Infrastructure:
  • 2 data centers operational (Hyderabad, Chennai)
  • 3rd ready; 4th under consideration
  • NPCI has ₹1,100 crore surplus for resilience and risk reserves

Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) and System Optimization

• UPI Lite / Lite X:
  • Optimized for small-ticket transactions (fewer hops)
  • Response to server load concerns and outages
• MDR Discussions: Ongoing with RBI and Government

Diversifying the UPI Ecosystem

• TPAP Market Share Goal: Reduce concentration; promote new players
• Deadline Extended: 30% market cap goal now pushed by 2 years
• Recent Developments:
  • Record 20 TPAP approvals in 2024
  • Emerging players: Cred, Navi, Paytm, Super.money
  • Strong interest driven by UPI’s zero MDR and wide user base

BHIM App Hive-Off and Sovereign Positioning

• Reason: Maintain arm’s-length relationship; ensure BHIM stays a sovereign alternative
• Not a competitor: Seen as a complementary platform
• Possible Future Hive-Offs: Under consideration, but not confirmed

The Road Ahead for UPI and NPCI

• The next 600 million UPI users will need focused support and trust-building
• UPI remains a work in progress, with continuous innovation, partnerships, and infrastructure investment necessary to reach its full potential
• NPCI’s strategy balances scale, innovation, globalisation, and financial inclusion