Google Pay, PhonePe's combined UPI market share now below 80%
What's the story
For the first time since the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) began publishing app-specific transaction data, PhonePe and Google Pay's combined market share has fallen below 80%. The two giants together held a whopping 86% of India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) market in May 2024. However, as of May this year, their collective dominance has dipped to 79%.
Regulatory measures
NPCI's efforts to level the playing field
The NPCI has been working hard to level the playing field between established and emerging third-party app providers (TPAPs) or UPI apps. The regulator has relaxed feature parity norms and is considering exclusive or early feature rollouts for smaller apps. This is all part of a strategy to broaden participation beyond the top players in the market.
Market shift
Emergence of new players
New players like NPCI's BHIM, Sachin Bansal-backed Navi, Flipkart Group's super.money, and WhatsApp Pay have made significant strides in the UPI space. Despite PhonePe and Google Pay still holding a major chunk of the market share, their combined dominance has dropped by 7% over two years. This suggests that some of NPCI's strategies to break the duopoly are working.
Rising stars
Who are the gainers?
BHIM and WhatsApp have been the biggest gainers in the past two years. The NPCI has invested in BHIM, which has seen its market share grow fivefold over two years to 1%. Navi and super.money, which started operations around two years ago, have together captured a combined 5.5% market share.
App approvals
Rapid growth in UPI-linked credit cards
In 2024 alone, 20 companies got the TPAP approval from NPCI to provide UPI services. The regulator has been actively helping smaller fintechs with faster approvals and product innovations. Many of these new entrants are either launching or planning to launch Rupay credit cards linked with UPI, offering customer rewards on cards and cashbacks on UPI transactions.