Groceries, petrol stations, restaurants, clothing and apparel, specialty retail, pharmacy and medical, hotels, jewellery retail, household appliances, and departmental stores were the merchant categories with the highest volume and value of transactions in Q1 for Worldline India. They together accounted for 85% in terms of volume and 76% in terms of value in Q1 2021 at the physical merchant touchpoints. In the online space, e-commerce (shopping for goods and services), gaming, utility & financial services contributed to over 85% of transactions in terms of volume and 41% in value in Q1 2021, said the report titled ‘India Digital Payments Report Q1 2021’

Mobile app-based transactions recorded 96% growth in volume in Q1 2021, while its value witnessed over 104% increase against the same quarter of the previous year i.e. Q1 2020. Interestingly, 88% of mobile transactions comprised of inter-bank transactions while 12% accounted for intra-bank transactions. In terms of value, 79% of mobile transactions comprised of interbank transactions while 21% accounted for intra-bank transactions.

Consumers made 8.32 billion mobile-based payments whereas Net Banking / Internet browser-based transactions were over 937.60 million in Q1 2021. In terms of value, INR 31.98 trillion was transacted through mobile while INR 131.34 trillion was transacted through the internet.

Net banking/internet-based transactions witnessed over 16% increase in volume In Q1 2021 and 39% in value against the same quarter of the previous year i.e. Q1 2020. Inter-bank and intra-bank transactions volume of Internet Payments channels were 80% and 20% respectively. In value terms, Inter-bank and intra-bank transactions were around 50%

It is evident from the data that consumers prefer mobile apps frequently for small ticket size transactions and net banking / browser-based channels for high ticket size transactions

Top 10 states with the highest transactions at physical touchpoints in Q1 for Worldline India: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, and West Bengal

Top 10 cities with the highest number of transactions at physical touchpoints in Q1 for Worldline India: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Delhi, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Ernakulam, and Ahmedabad

Deepak Chandnani, Managing Director, Worldline South Asia & Middle East said, The RBI in its Annual Report 2020-21 stated that the payment systems recorded a robust growth of 26.2% in terms of volume on top of the expansion of 44.2% in the previous year. This clearly indicates the growing confidence among consumers towards digital payments in tier I and II cities and tier III and beyond. Although the restrictions on the movement of people and persistent lockdowns may have compelled people to adopt digital payment modes, the convenience, transparency, and security of digital payments will ensure customer stickiness in the years to come. At Worldline, we remain committed to contributing to digital penetration in India by enhancing acceptance infrastructure across the country and introducing innovative payment options to improve user experience and deepen the reach of the payment system.”

Other Highlights (As Of March 2021)
- Total number of cards in circulation stood at 960.25 million
- Total number of debit cards at 898.20 million and credit cards at 62.05 million
- POS terminals 4.72 million
- Prepaid Payment Instruments at 2.20 billion, 189.93 million prepaid cards, 2.01 billion mobile wallets
- Total transactions in Q1 2021 stood at 937.60 million (volume), Rs 131.34 trillion (value)
- Net Banking / Internet browser-based payments
- Mobile-based payments volume stood at 8.32 billion and value wise it was INR 31.98 trillion
- Debit card transactions' volume was 1.10 billion, value stood at INR 1.91 trillion
- Credit card transactions' volume stood at 524.53 million, value stood at INR 1.97 trillion
- Prepaid card transactions' volume stood at 272.57 million, value at INR 178.90 billion
- Mobile wallets transactions' volume stood at 1.13 billion, value at INR 411.75 billion
- NETC processed about 500 million transactions worth INR 80.41 billion
- UPI witnessed over 2.73 billion transactions in March 2021, breached INR 5 trillion in terms of value.
- 9 banks joined the UPI ecosystem in Q1 2021, the total number of banks providing UPI at 216 as of Mar ‘21.
- AePS transaction volumes grew 120% YoY (Offus, BHIM Aadhaar Pay) in Q1 2021