UPI QR codes hit 67.8 crore by June 2025, doubling in 18 months and enabling ₹143.3 lakh crore in H1 2025 — what it means for merchants & small spends.
UPI QR Code Growth 2025
India’s UPI acceptance story accelerated sharply in the first half of 2025, with QR codes on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) hitting 67.8 crore by end-June — more than double the count from 18 months earlier. This rapid expansion has powered payments of ₹143.3 lakh crore in H1 2025 and pushed total transaction volumes to over 10,636 crore, underscoring how QR-based payments have become the backbone of everyday retail commerce in India.
The Worldline India Digital Payments Report cited in the Mint piece highlights a pivot toward smaller, frequent spends — average ticket sizes fell from ₹1,478 (H1 2024) to ₹1,348 (H1 2025). That decline signals deeper penetration into kirana stores, food delivery, mobility services and utility payments, where low-value, high-frequency transactions dominate. With merchant onboarding becoming nearly frictionless and many government and private initiatives incentivizing QR issuance, the merchant acceptance network now rivals the scale of traditional terminals.
Point-of-sale infrastructure also rose: PoS terminals grew about 29% to 1.12 crore, while Bharat QR and interoperable UPI QRs scaled strongly — creating an ecosystem where QR acceptance is frequently cheaper and faster than card swipes. For merchants, zero-cost acceptance and instant settlements help margins and cashflow; for consumers, speed and trust make QR the default payment choice.
