Digital Transactions Will Overtake Cash Payments In India: PM Modi

74 billion transactions were done through UPI in 2022…

New Delhi: On Tuesday, 21 February 2023, PM Narendra Modi expressed hope that digital transactions will soon surpass cash as Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is increasingly becoming the most opted payment mechanism in the country.

The Prime Minister after the launch of the cross-border connectivity between the UPI and PayNow of Singapore said about 74 billion transactions amounting to more than Rs. 126 trillion, which is approximately 2 trillion Singapore dollars, was done through UPI in 2022.

"Many experts are expecting that very soon India's digital wallet transactions are going to overtake cash transactions across the globe," he said.

A large number of transactions via UPI demonstrate that this indigenously designed payment system is very secure, he said.

PM Modi along with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong witnessed the launch of cross-border connectivity between the UPI and PayNow of Singapore through video conferencing.

The first transaction was done by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon.

The linkage of these two payment systems would enable residents of both countries in faster and cost-efficient transfer of cross-border remittances.

It will also help the Indian diaspora in Singapore, especially migrant workers and students there, through instantaneous and low-cost transfer of money from Singapore to India and vice-versa.