India Turns Scan-First as UPI and QR Payments Surge in Q3 2025

Worldline India’s latest snapshot captures how UPI, QR codes, cards, and mobile payments are reshaping transaction behaviour across metros and emerging Bharat. The quarter reinforces a simple takeaway: India is moving rapidly toward a scan-first payments economy, where digital transactions are embedded into everyday life.

UPI Becomes the Default for Daily Commerce

UPI continued its steady climb in Q3 2025, posting 59.33 billion transactions, up 33.5% year-on-year. Transaction value rose 21% to ₹74.84 trillion, underlining UPI’s expanding role beyond peer transfers into routine retail spending.

Person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions grew faster than person-to-person (P2P), reflecting how UPI is now the preferred checkout option for groceries, transport, food delivery, and local services. P2M volumes rose 35% to 37.46 billion transactions, while P2P transactions increased 29% to 21.65 billion.

The average ticket size fell to ₹1,262 from ₹1,363, a sign that UPI is being used more frequently for low-value, high-frequency purchases. From mobility payments to healthcare essentials, digital payments are now woven into micro-transactions that were once cash-dominated.

QR Codes Anchor the Scan-First Shift

Behind UPI’s momentum is the rapid expansion of QR acceptance. India ended the quarter with 709 million active UPI QRs, a 21% increase since July 2024. Dense QR deployment across kirana stores, pharmacies, transport hubs, and rural markets has made scan-and-pay the default experience for merchants and consumers alike.

Point-of-sale infrastructure also expanded during the period. PoS terminals grew 35% to 12.12 million between July 2024 and July 2025. Bharat QR deployments stood at 6.10 million, showing a marginal decline as UPI QR continues to dominate merchant preference.

Private banks played a central role in this rollout, accounting for 84% of acceptance deployment, highlighting how banking-led infrastructure continues to shape India’s payments backbone.

Cards Hold Ground in High-Value Spending

While UPI absorbed much of the low-ticket volume, cards retained their relevance in higher-value transactions. Credit card issuance rose 35% year-on-year to 113.39 million cards. Debit cards reached 1.02 billion, while prepaid cards stood at 470.1 million.

Credit card transaction volumes increased 26% to 1.45 billion, with transaction value at ₹4.08 trillion. Debit card usage declined 25%, reflecting a clear migration of smaller spends to UPI. Prepaid cards, meanwhile, saw transaction volumes grow 23%.

At physical points of sale, total card transactions reached 1.18 billion, with transaction value rising to ₹2.90 trillion. Credit card spending at PoS increased 16%, driven by categories such as fashion, travel, and wellness—segments where consumers typically spend more per transaction.

Online and Mobile Payments Gain Momentum

Online card transactions rose sharply in Q3, increasing 29% to 1.13 billion transactions. Credit cards dominated online spending, accounting for ₹3.86 trillion in transaction value.

Mobile-first and contactless payments also continued to gain traction. Tap-based payments expanded across metros, mobility services, and quick-service retail, reflecting consumer preference for faster checkout and minimal friction.

What the Data Signals for the Months Ahead

Looking ahead to Q4 2025 and early 2026, Worldline’s outlook points to deeper integration across payment modes. Interoperable QR is expected to move beyond pilots into daily use across mobility, healthcare, fuel stations, and public utilities, offering a more unified scan-and-pay experience.

Credit-on-UPI is also likely to see broader adoption, enabling small-ticket credit, EMIs, and pre-approved credit lines within familiar UPI flows. Semi-urban centres and smaller towns are expected to lead the next phase of growth, driven by rapid QR adoption among kiranas, pharmacies, and local service providers.

Tap-and-pay usage is set to expand further across malls, metros, and transit systems, while cross-border QR payments are poised for steady growth across Asian travel corridors, allowing Indian travelers and students to use domestic QR-based payment experiences overseas.

Q3 2025 makes one trend clear: India’s payments story is no longer just about digitisation. It is about habit. With scans and taps becoming instinctive, digital payments are now less a choice and more a reflex.