Digital payment systems—including the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), debit and credit cards, mobile wallets and internet banking—have reduced the friction involved in paying for goods and services. Alongside benefits such as speed, accessibility and transaction records, these methods may alter how consumers perceive and control expenditure. This paper examines the relationship between digital payment usage and consumer spending behaviour in India, with attention to purchase frequency, spending amount, impulse buying, budgeting and financial self-control. The study follows a descriptive and analytical secondary-research design. It synthesises peer-reviewed literature, a 2024 meta-analysis of cashless-payment effects, a transaction-based Indian study published in The Review of Financial Studies, and official payment-system statistics from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). No original survey was conducted, and no respondent-level dataset or statistical result has been fabricated. The literature indicates a small but statistically significant average cashless effect across a broad international evidence base, while Indian transaction-based evidence suggests that a forced shift from cash to digital payments can increase spending under specific conditions. However, payment-system growth alone cannot establish that households are overspending: aggregate transaction counts include transfers and other nonconsumption activity, and spending decisions are also shaped by income, prices, credit access, needs and budgeting habits. The paper concludes that digital payments are best understood as a behavioural and transactional tool rather than an independent cause of financial irresponsibility. Their effects depend on context and can be managed through spending alerts, category budgets, transaction reviews and stronger consumer awareness.

Om Gajanan Dhandar, Dr. Ujwala Narkhede, "Impact of Digital Payment Usage on Consumer Spending Behaviour" International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development, V9(5): Page(1216-1226) September - October 2026. ISSN: 2581-7175. www.ijsred.com. Published by Scientific and Academic Research Publishing.