India Tops The World In Real-Time Payment Volumes In 2021: Report

India’s digital payment volumes were almost threefold that of China and almost seven times higher than the combined real-time payments volume of the US, Canada, the UK, France and Germany

Real-time payments helped India unlock an additional $16.4 Bn of economic output last year pegged at 0.56% of the formal GDP

Over 31% of all payments in India last year were done through real-time payment instruments

India led the world in real-time payment transactions in 2021, with 48.6 Bn such transactions, representing more than 40% of the global transactions, emerging from the country, according to a report.

The number of real-time transactions in India was almost 2.6X higher than that of China (18 Bn transactions) and almost seven times higher than the combined real-time payments volume of the US, Canada, the UK, France and Germany (7.5 Bn), it said.

The report, titled ‘Prime Time for Real Time 2022’, tracked real-time payments volumes from across 30 countries. It was released by real-time payments solutions provider ACI Worldwide in partnership with analytics firm GlobalData and UK-based Centre for Economics and Business Research.

According to the report, real-time payments helped India unlock an additional $16.4 Bn of economic output last year, pegged at 0.56% of the formal GDP. As much as 31.3% of all payments made in India last year were done through real-time payment instruments.

Digital payments in India are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 33.5%  by 2026, the report said, adding that the country is likely to emerge as the third fastest-growing real-time market in the world by 2026. It estimated that the contribution of digital payments would soar to $45.9 Bn, or 1.12% of the country’s GDP, by 2026.