Digital payment frauds in India rose to 3.58 lakh cases worth ₹493 crore in September 2026, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Payment System Indicators for the month. That is up 18% in number and 14% in value from September 2025, and the highest monthly fraud count in the series the RBI has published since September 2022.
The provisional data, released on the RBI’s Payment System Indicators page, comes as lenders and payment firms report rising pressure on their systems. Elets BFSI recently reported how digital payments firms are stepping up cyber defences as attacks surge.
Digital payment frauds: what the RBI data shows
The fraud figures come from the Central Payments Fraud Information Registry (CPFIR), where scheduled commercial banks, non-bank prepaid payment instrument (PPI) issuers and non-bank credit card issuers report cases. They exclude attempted frauds that did not succeed.
- Fraud cases rose to 3.58 lakh in September 2026, from 3.43 lakh in August and 3.03 lakh in September 2025.
- The amount lost rose to ₹493 crore, from ₹460 crore in August and ₹431 crore a year earlier. It is the highest monthly value since May 2024.
- One in every 78,408 payment transactions was fraudulent, compared with one in 83,539 in August.
- The fraud-to-sales ratio, which compares the value of frauds with total payment value, eased to 0.147 basis points from 0.152 basis points in August, because total payment value grew faster.
The count has stayed above 3.4 lakh a month since June 2026, when it jumped to 3.53 lakh. The RBI has been tightening its oversight, and recently put fintech and NBFC APIs under closer cyber checks.
UPI QR codes and cards keep growing
The same release shows the payment network still expanding quickly. The number of static UPI QR codes deployed by merchants reached 885.5 million at the end of September, up 8.9% from 813 million in August and from 709 million a year earlier.
UPI processed 24.07 billion transactions worth ₹29.37 lakh crore in September, before a festive surge took October to a record 25.47 billion transactions. The number of credit cards in circulation rose to 12.53 crore from 12.40 crore in August.
Not every channel is growing. Point-of-sale (PoS) terminals fell to 1.04 crore from 1.21 crore a year earlier, and Bharat QR codes slipped to 53.4 lakh from 60.7 lakh over the same period; the RBI data does not give a reason for the decline.
Why it matters for fintechs and banks
A wider network gives fraudsters more places to strike. More QR codes, more wallets and more credit lines on UPI each add new points that payment firms must watch. Rising fraud counts also put pressure on reliability metrics, alongside the rise in UPI technical declines reported by NPCI for September.
For fintechs, the data strengthens the case for real-time fraud scoring, device binding and better customer warnings, especially for first-time users in smaller towns.
Key takeaways
- Digital payment frauds rose to 3.58 lakh cases worth ₹493 crore in September 2026, RBI data shows.
- Cases rose 18% and losses 14% from a year earlier, though fraud as a share of payment value eased.
- UPI QR codes reached 885.5 million, up 8.9% in one month.
FAQ
How many digital payment frauds were reported in September 2026?
The RBI’s provisional data shows 3.58 lakh cases involving ₹493 crore, reported by banks and non-bank payment issuers to the CPFIR.
Where can I report a digital payment fraud?
Victims should inform their bank or payment app at once and report the fraud on the national cybercrime helpline 1930 or at cybercrime.gov.in.
Featured image: BHIM UPI QR code at Shaurya Smarak, Bhopal. Photo: Suyash Dwivedi via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
