Mastercard's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Sachin Mehra, has praised the unified payments interface (UPI), calling it "impressive on multiple fronts." However, he admitted that it can be a difficult experience for ecosystem players, resulting in financial losses. Mehra stated at a recent UBS conference that "it is an incredibly painful experience for ecosystem participants who all end up losing money as part of that proposition," according to TechCrunch.    

This isn't the first time Mastercard has expressed reservations about UPI. Mehra stated in May that "the banks facilitating these transactions frequently end up incurring losses." As a result, we are concerned about the model's long-term viability. Only time will tell where this will lead. In the meantime, debit and credit transactions are thriving in this market."

UPI passed the 10 billion transaction mark in August, and this pace continued in September, with 10.56 billion transactions. In terms of transaction value, it increased by 0.3% to Rs 15.8 trillion from Rs 15.76 trillion in August.

Data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) show a significant 56% increase in transaction volume and a 41% increase in transaction value over the same period last year. According to statistics, India is seeing a growing trend in digital payment methods, with 42% of consumers preferring the unified payments interface (UPI) for online purchasing during the festive season.