How Did WhatsApp Overtake CRED in India’s UPI Race?
WhatsApp overtook CRED in Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transaction volume in June, marking a significant milestone in India’s rapidly evolving digital payments landscape. According to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), WhatsApp processed 150.48 million UPI transactions, surpassing CRED’s 141.78 million during the month.
The development comes at an interesting time for both companies. In the same month, CRED founder Kunal Shah stepped down from the fintech startup to become the Global CEO of WhatsApp, while Miten Sampat was appointed as CRED’s interim CEO.
Despite WhatsApp’s gain over CRED, the broader UPI market continued to be dominated by PhonePe and Google Pay, which together accounted for nearly 79% of all UPI transactions in June.
WhatsApp Edges Ahead of CRED
The June data reflects a reversal from May, when CRED had maintained a narrow lead over WhatsApp.
- WhatsApp: 150.48 million transactions
- CRED: 141.78 million transactions
In May, CRED had processed 157 million transactions, compared with over 150 million for WhatsApp.
However, while WhatsApp surpassed CRED in transaction volume, CRED continued to handle significantly higher-value payments.
CRED processed transactions worth ₹55,117 crore, accounting for 1.91% of total UPI transaction value. In comparison, WhatsApp processed transactions worth ₹11,392 crore, giving it a 0.39% share of the total value.
The figures indicate that CRED users continue to carry out higher-value transactions despite a lower transaction count.
PhonePe Continues to Lead India’s UPI Market
PhonePe retained its position as India’s largest UPI platform by a wide margin.
The Walmart-backed payments company processed 10.48 billion transactions during June, slightly lower than 10.73 billion transactions recorded in May.
June also marked the fourth consecutive month in which PhonePe processed more than 10 billion UPI transactions. The platform first crossed the 10-billion monthly transaction milestone in March 2026.
PhonePe captured:
- 46.15% market share by transaction volume
- 49.07% market share by transaction value
The company processed payments worth ₹14.19 lakh crore during the month.
Google Pay and Paytm Hold Their Positions
Google Pay remained the second-largest UPI application in the country.
During June, it processed:
- 7.41 billion transactions
- 32.61% market share by volume
- ₹9.67 lakh crore in transaction value
- 33.44% market share by value
Meanwhile, Paytm retained the third position with:
- 1.80 billion transactions
- 7.92% share by transaction volume
- ₹1.93 lakh crore in transaction value
- 6.66% share by value
Together, PhonePe and Google Pay accounted for 78.76% of total UPI transaction volume and 82.51% of transaction value, underlining their continued dominance in India’s digital payments ecosystem.
Other UPI Players Continue to Grow
Several smaller UPI platforms also recorded notable activity during June.
Among them:
- Navi processed 842.51 million transactions, improving from more than 824 million in May and securing a 3.71% market share by volume.
- Flipkart-backed super.money handled 430.24 million transactions.
- BHIM recorded 223.54 million transactions.
- FamApp by Trio processed 195.31 million transactions.
- Axis Bank’s UPI apps registered 136.16 million transactions across customer-to-business (B2C), business-to-business (B2B), and customer-initiated payments.
These players continue to compete for niche segments, although the market remains heavily concentrated among the top two platforms.
Overall UPI Transactions Decline Slightly
India’s UPI ecosystem witnessed a marginal slowdown during June compared to the previous month.
According to NPCI data:
- Total UPI transactions: 22.72 billion, down from 23.2 billion in May.
- Total transaction value: ₹28.92 lakh crore, compared to ₹29.90 lakh crore in the previous month.
Despite the month-on-month decline, UPI continues to be one of the world’s largest real-time digital payment systems, processing billions of transactions every month.
What’s Next?
WhatsApp’s rise above CRED signals growing user adoption of its integrated payments feature, aided by its massive messaging user base. However, the platform still trails significantly in transaction value, indicating that users primarily rely on it for smaller payments.
Meanwhile, PhonePe and Google Pay continue to dominate India’s UPI ecosystem with a combined market share of nearly 80% by volume. As digital payments continue to expand, competition among established fintech firms, messaging platforms, and emerging UPI apps is expected to intensify, driving further innovation in India’s rapidly growing payments landscape.
