World’s Largest Real-Time Payment System The IMF has officially recognised India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as the world’s largest real-time retail payment system by transaction volume. IMF’s report “Growing Retail Digital Payments – The Value of Interoperability” lists UPI as the world’s largest retail fast-payment system. UPI accounts for 49% of all global real-time digital payments, far ahead of Brazil, Thailand and China. About UPI UPI (Unified Payments Interface) is India’s instant, real-time, interoperable payments system that enables bank-to-bank transfers using a mobile phone. It is operated by NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) and regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Origin of UPI: Conceptualised by NPCI to unify fragmented payment systems under one interoperable platform. Launched as a pilot in April 2016 by then RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan.
