In FY25, UPI dominated transaction volumes with an 83.4% contribution to the digital payments ecosystem. Clearly, UPI has become the everyday default for quick, seamless payments. Yet, as digital commerce expands across sectors, providing only a single mode of payment may not always deliver the best checkout experience.
Customers today expect flexibility, familiarity and control when completing payments, especially for higher-value, recurring or international purchases. This is where businesses need a payment gateway in India that goes beyond UPI and supports multiple payment instruments. Let’s find out what alternate payment options are available.
Why businesses must expand beyond UPI
UPI is ideal for high-frequency, low-value or mid-value transactions, such as paying for groceries, coffee or ride-hailing services. But different categories demand different payment flows. For example:
- Higher-value products often require EMI or credit support
- Subscriptions require recurring billing automation
- International customers need globally recognised payment methods
- Enterprises need stronger reconciliation, dashboards and settlement reporting
A payment gateway in India that enables multiple payment instruments ensures that customers complete payments smoothly without dropping off at checkout.
Cards: A trusted and versatile option
Even with UPI’s rapid rise, debit and credit cards remain deeply relevant in both online and offline commerce. Their strength lies in:
- Strong customer familiarity built over decades
- Additional value through reward points, cashback and offers
- The ability to convert purchases into EMIs
- Secure dispute resolution and fraud protection systems
Integrating card payments into a payment gateway in India enables businesses to offer flexible repayment options and structured affordability. They are especially valuable in electronics, travel, lifestyle and retail categories. For many customers, cards remain the preferred method for higher-value purchases where security and repayment flexibility matter.
Net banking: A reliable option for deliberate buyers
Net banking appeals to customers who prefer direct control over their bank-to-bank transactions. It is widely used for:
- Corporate payments or vendor settlements
- Significant one-time purchases
- Customers who do not rely heavily on smartphone apps or wallets
Within a payment gateway in India, net banking works as a stable, trusted alternative for users who prefer traditional authentication methods and want visibility over each transaction.
EMI and pay later: Supporting affordability and larger purchases
In a digital-first marketplace, affordability plays a major role in conversion. Pay later and EMI options help:
- Increase average order value
- Allow customers to buy without immediate full payment
- Reduce cart abandonment, especially in premium or discretionary categories
For businesses, offering EMIs through their payment gateway in India can directly improve sales outcomes by making larger purchases easier to commit to. From electronics to education fees, EMIs empower customers to make confident buying decisions.
Digital wallets: Efficiency when speed matters
Wallets remain highly efficient in repeat-use and frequent-purchase contexts. Wallets offer:
- Quick checkout due to stored balance
- Minimal authentication steps
- Reward systems that encourage loyalty
For services such as food delivery, gaming, ride-hailing and streaming, enabling wallets within payment gateways in India improves transaction success rates and reduces checkout friction.
How to choose the right mix of payment methods
When assessing your payment gateway in India, the aim is to offer payment choices that match how your customers naturally prefer to pay. The right mix encourages faster checkout and reduces drop-offs.
- Customer demographics
Different customer groups prefer different payment methods. Younger, digital-first buyers may lean towards UPI and wallets, while some users still trust cards or net banking. A payment gateway in India should help you enable the methods most relevant to your core audience.
- Product type and pricing
The cost of your product influences how people choose to pay. Low-ticket items usually work best with quick, no-step options like UPI, whereas high-ticket items benefit from cards, EMI or BNPL for affordability. A payment gateway in India should support both, depending on what you sell.
- Device experience
If most of your users shop on mobile, the checkout must minimise typing and screen switching, favouring UPI and saved cards. If your customers are mostly on desktops, card and net banking flows can still work smoothly. A strong payment gateway in India adapts the payment flow to the user’s device.
- Checkout friction
Too many steps lead to drop-offs. Reducing redirects, autofilling saved details and prioritising the most used payment options help complete payments faster. The role of a payment gateway in India is to keep the checkout simple while still offering meaningful choices.
Drive business growth with a flexible payment gateway
UPI may continue to lead everyday digital transactions in India, but expanding the payment ecosystem is essential for scale, flexibility and customer choice. Cards, EMI, net banking and wallets collectively strengthen the payment experience. A thoughtfully designed payment gateway in India brings these elements together to drive business growth and customer confidence.
To deliver this efficiently, many businesses choose payment gateways like Pine Labs Online as their payments partner, with flexible payment acceptance and unified reconciliation across all channels.