UPI Autopay surges threefold as customers shift from cards to digital

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) Autopay, the recurring payments feature facilitating seamless digital transactions, has witnessed a surge in adoption over the past year, significantly outpacing traditional card-based recurring payments.

Data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) shows that UPI Autopay transactions surged to 175 million in January 2025, marking a threefold rise from 58 million in January 2024. This sharp increase reflects a growing consumer preference for UPI’s convenience and efficiency over traditional card payments.

There are also 647 banks live on UPI, as of January 2025, compared to 550 in the year-ago period.

UPI overtakes cards in recurring payments

The increasing reliance on UPI Autopay has led to a decline in the dominance of card-based recurring transactions. Data from a leading payments company reveals that UPI Autopay’s share of recurring payments has jumped to over 53 per cent in January 2025 from 33 per cent in January 2024. In contrast, card-based recurring payments have dropped to 31 per cent from 42 per cent, with the remaining transactions being processed via Net Banking.

The shift became particularly evident from September 2024 onwards, when UPI-based recurring payments surpassed those made through cards. This transition is largely attributed to the ease of setting up UPI Autopay for various services, including OTT subscriptions, insurance premiums, loan repayments, and utility bills. Customers can authorise UPI Autopay mandates with a single PIN entry and have the flexibility to cancel them at any time while the subscription remains active.

Record surge in UPI Autopay registrations

The number of customer registrations for UPI Autopay, referred to as ‘mandate creation,’ has also skyrocketed. In January 2025, 35 million new mandates were created, more than doubling the 14.5 million recorded in January 2024. Unlike card mandates, which are managed by individual banks, UPI mandates provide a unified platform for customers to track and manage all subscriptions through a single application.

Regulatory changes pave the way for UPI

The meteoric rise of UPI Autopay can be traced back to regulatory interventions by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) between 2020 and 2022. The introduction of additional factor authentication (AFA) for card payments and the implementation of tokenisation disrupted many standing instructions placed via cards. Customers, required to re-authorise transactions, found UPI a more convenient alternative, given its widespread acceptance and seamless integration with merchant platforms.

The shift has also influenced merchant preferences. Apple’s App Store, for instance, has stopped accepting card payments for subscriptions in India and now prioritises UPI, net banking, and Apple Wallet. Several other major and minor merchants have followed suit, reinforcing UPI’s dominance in India’s evolving digital payment landscape.