Meta’s payments platform processed 167.89 million UPI transactions worth ₹12,957.07 crore in July, becoming the eighth-largest UPI app by transaction volume
New Delhi: WhatsApp Pay, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments service operated by Meta in India, has recorded strong growth in transaction volumes, more than doubling its activity compared with the same month last year.
According to the latest UPI transaction data, WhatsApp Pay processed 167.89 million transactions worth ₹12,957.07 crore in July 2026. The strong performance has moved the platform up the UPI rankings, making it the eighth-largest UPI application in India by transaction volume.
WhatsApp Pay has now moved ahead of platforms such as CRED and Amazon Pay, highlighting the growing adoption of payments through the messaging platform.
WhatsApp Pay more than doubles transactions in one year
The growth in WhatsApp Pay’s transaction volumes has been significant.
In July 2025, the platform processed approximately 74.6 million UPI transactions, with a total transaction value of ₹5,412.58 crore.
By July 2026, transaction volume had increased to 167.89 million, while transaction value rose to ₹12,957.07 crore.
This represents a transaction-volume increase of more than 125 per cent year-on-year, demonstrating the rapid expansion of WhatsApp Pay’s presence in India’s digital payments market.
The platform has also made considerable progress in terms of its ranking. It was the 11th-largest UPI app in July 2025, but has now climbed to eighth position.
Crosses 100 million transactions milestone
WhatsApp Pay crossed an important milestone in December 2025, when its monthly transaction volume surpassed the 100-million mark.
The latest July figures indicate that the platform has continued to build momentum after crossing that threshold.
The growth is particularly significant considering the regulatory restrictions that previously limited the number of users WhatsApp Pay could onboard onto UPI.
NPCI restrictions played a key role
WhatsApp Pay’s expansion accelerated after the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) removed restrictions on the platform’s user onboarding in December 2024.
Before the restrictions were removed, WhatsApp Pay’s ability to expand its UPI user base was limited by prescribed onboarding caps.
NPCI had initially approved WhatsApp Pay to operate on UPI in November 2020 under a multi-bank model.
The platform was initially allowed to onboard up to 20 million users.
That limit was subsequently increased to 40 million users in 2021 and then to 100 million users in 2022.
In 2024, NPCI removed the restrictions on the number of users WhatsApp Pay could onboard, allowing Meta’s payments service to expand its UPI user base more freely.
The subsequent increase in transaction volumes suggests that WhatsApp’s enormous existing messaging user base can provide a significant distribution advantage for its payments business.
WhatsApp’s messaging ecosystem provides an advantage
One of WhatsApp Pay’s biggest advantages is its integration with the widely used WhatsApp messaging platform.
Users can access payments within an ecosystem they already use regularly for communication. This can reduce friction in adopting digital payments and potentially encourage users to conduct more transactions through the service.
The strong growth recorded over the past year indicates that Meta is increasingly establishing WhatsApp Pay as a meaningful player in India’s highly competitive UPI ecosystem.
PhonePe continues to dominate UPI
Despite WhatsApp Pay’s rapid growth, India’s UPI market remains heavily concentrated among a few major platforms.
In July 2026, PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm remained the three largest UPI applications by transaction volume.
PhonePe processed approximately 10.85 billion UPI transactions during the month, retaining its position as India’s largest UPI platform.
Google Pay ranked second with approximately 7.64 billion transactions, while Paytm was third with around 1.90 billion transactions.
The enormous gap between the leading platforms and WhatsApp Pay shows that WhatsApp still has considerable room for expansion if it can continue converting its large messaging user base into active payments users.
WhatsApp Pay’s rise changes the competitive landscape
The movement of WhatsApp Pay into the top eight UPI apps represents an important shift in India’s digital payments market.
Its rise also demonstrates that competition is no longer limited to traditional fintech and payments companies. Large technology platforms with established consumer ecosystems are increasingly competing for a share of India’s digital payments activity.
WhatsApp’s ability to combine messaging, contacts and payments within a single platform could become an important differentiator as the company seeks to increase UPI adoption.
What the growth means for India’s UPI ecosystem
The rapid increase in WhatsApp Pay transactions highlights the continuing expansion of India’s digital payments ecosystem.
UPI has become an integral part of everyday financial transactions, ranging from small merchant payments to person-to-person transfers.
The entry and expansion of large technology companies have further increased competition, encouraging payment platforms to focus on convenience, reliability and user experience.
For consumers, greater competition could result in more payment options and increasingly integrated digital services.
Key Takeaway
WhatsApp Pay has recorded a major jump in UPI activity, processing 167.89 million transactions worth ₹12,957.07 crore in July 2026, compared with 74.6 million transactions worth ₹5,412.58 crore in July 2025.
The growth has lifted WhatsApp Pay from the 11th-largest UPI app to the eighth-largest by transaction volume, putting it ahead of CRED and Amazon Pay.
The removal of NPCI’s user-onboarding restrictions in 2024 appears to have played an important role in enabling the platform’s expansion.
However, PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm continue to dominate the UPI market, with billions of transactions each month.
With its massive existing messaging ecosystem and unrestricted user onboarding, WhatsApp Pay could become an increasingly important competitor in India’s digital payments market in the coming years.
