India's Digital Payments Transform: UPI Drives Habit, Credit Integration Next

• India's digital payments crossed an inflection point in 2025, moving from rapid adoption to deeply embedded consumer habit, with UPI as the backbone.
• Small-ticket payments dominated, with nearly three-fourths of UPI transactions below ₹500, making digital payments the "default" choice.
• Cards found new roles through UPI integration (especially RuPay credit cards), while digital wallets evolved into embedded features within super apps.
• Growth was fueled by new use cases like UPI Autopay, regulatory clarity, and expanded merchant acceptance, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas.
• The 2026 outlook predicts a shift from payment ubiquity to credit ubiquity, with AI, trust, and security becoming central to the ecosystem's evolution.

Why It Matters: India's digital payments, led by UPI, became a daily habit in 2025, setting the stage for credit integration.