Despite the boost from reduced GST rates and online seasonal shopping, the number of UPI transactions was lower in September than in August.
According to statistics from the Reserve Bank of India, during the 2025 holiday season, the value of offline credit card transactions decreased by 16% as compared to the previous year as customers began shopping more online.
in 29%, the drop in debit card spending in physical stores was even more pronounced, suggesting that part of the money has shifted to popular Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platforms for rapid commerce.
The reduction in offline expenditure
With Dusshera happening in October of last year, offline credit card consumption for September of this year was Rs 47,626 crore, whereas October of 2024 saw Rs 57,121 crore.
Debit card purchases at physical stores were Rs 19,726 crore in September of this year, up from Rs 27,589 crore in October of the previous year.
Credit card purchases at physical stores were Rs 47,176 crore in August 2025.
The offline credit card transaction value barely made it above the August number, and the debit card transaction value was significantly lower than August due to the new, lower GST rates that went into effect on September 22.
Shining online
But according to Moneycontrol’s September 29 report, the September numbers for online transactions set a new high for credit card expenditure.
In September 2025, credit card spending on e-commerce platforms reached an all-time high of Rs 1.18 lakh crore, driven by Flipkart’s Big Billion Day and Amazon’s Great Indian Festival. When the top two e-commerce platforms began their festive buying spree on September 22, online credit card spending also surpassed Rs 10,000 crore in a single day for the first time. Additionally, the 10-day Navaratri celebration began on that day.
UPI also lets you down
Although some low-value offline transactions have switched to UPI, even with the boost from GST and online holiday sales, the amount of transactions on the mobile payment platform was lower in September than in August, with a little 0.2% increase in transaction value.
Because of the UPI scale, fewer days in a month often translate into smaller UPI transaction data numbers.
Card payments are the main source of discounts during the Dusshera sale events. UPI transactions may be more common on a typical day for Flipkart or Amazon, but users prefer card payments during sale event days because of the related discounts.
UPI is too massive for internet sales events to affect
It is interesting to note that after September 22, when the GST reform went into effect, the UPI volume and value data were at least 25% lower than those for the first half of September.
For example, September 22 had the second-lowest volume of transactions for the month. on the first 10 days of September, there were around 670 million UPI transactions daily; on the days of the online sale, this number dropped to 640 million. In a similar vein, the daily transaction value often surpasses one lakh crore in the first days, whereas it was about Rs 80,000 crore during the selling days.
In actuality, UPI equals the average monthly expenditure of Rs 95,000 crore on online credit cards.