Archive · 25 Aug 2026
UPI Turns Ten, but India’s Gender Gap Persists
UPI is a system that lets people make digital payments using phones and bank accounts.
It was launched in India in 2016 and has grown very quickly.
India now handles nearly half of the world’s real-time payment transactions.
Women and men now have bank accounts at almost the same rate.
However, women are still much less likely to use online banking or mobile money.
About 25.2% of women could perform online banking, compared with 47.1% of men.
The gap in India is larger than the global average.
More digital education, smartphone access and targeted outreach could help women use digital payments more.
The government says it plans to expand UPI and financial inclusion over the next decade.
The National Payments Corporation of India launched the Unified Payments Interface on August 25, 2016.
India now accounts for nearly half of the world’s real-time payment transactions.
Women’s bank-account ownership rose from 43% in 2014 to 89% in 2024, nearly matching men.
Digital banking remained far less common among women: 25.2% versus 47.1% for men.
India’s 18-percentage-point digital banking gender gap exceeds the global average of six points.
- Who
- The National Payments Corporation of India, the Government of India, and Indian women and men using financial services.
- What
- The Unified Payments Interface has completed ten years, while a substantial gender gap remains in digital banking and mobile-money use.
- When
- UPI was launched on August 25, 2016; the cited account-ownership comparison covers 2014 to 2024.
- Where
- India, within the global digital-payments landscape.
- Why
- Although bank-account access has become nearly equal, women’s use of digital financial services remains lower; greater digital literacy, smartphone access and targeted outreach are identified as possible ways to narrow the gap.
Inclusion Concern
Government Outlook
Current progress
Inclusion Concern
Near-equal bank-account ownership has not translated into equal use of online banking and mobile money, with women substantially behind men.
Government Outlook
The government highlights UPI’s transformation of India’s digital-payments landscape and its potential to bring more users and merchants into the ecosystem.
Next steps
Inclusion Concern
The 18-percentage-point digital banking gap, compared with six points globally, shows that access alone has not solved financial exclusion for women.
Government Outlook
The Government of India says continued policy support, technological advancement and greater financial inclusion will strengthen the payments ecosystem in UPI’s next decade.
- UPI launch date
- August 25, 2016
- Women’s account ownership
- 89% in 2024, up from 43% in 2014
- Men’s account ownership
- 88% in 2024, up from 62% in 2014
- Online banking ability
- 47.1% of men compared with 25.2% of women
- Mobile-money accounts
- 32% of men compared with 14% of women
- India’s digital banking gender gap
- 18 percentage points, compared with six points globally
- India’s real-time payment share
- Nearly half of the world’s real-time payment transactions