Digital payments: Overview

Abstract

The number of non-cash transactions and revenue in digital payments has increased at a rapid rate since 2012. This increase has been rapid in the developing countries region such as AsiaPacific. In the technological adoption curve, only china has already crossed the chasm ( as shown below) while other countries such as USA, UK are still at the early adoption stage where only innovators have adopted the technology. Hence, for the other developed countries to cross the stage the product must become more trustworthy, stable etc. Currently India is in Infant Stage in the context of digital payments. Mobile penetration is high and internet penetration is steadily increasing. Also, the youth of the country are ready to adopt the changes in Digi-Space at a very fast pace. Hence, Mobile Payments is one blanket area which can be targeted at if we focus on high penetration percentages. There are many players in this field, however we feel that the industry would move towards a consolidated one with few players. UPI is something that is widely used currently amongst the digital payment users. Contactless technologies such as NFC would bring a great amount of convenience to the users. It also appeals as the transactions would then me made quicker and safer (if encrypted sufficiently). Continuous emphasis on innovation by all the players in the Digital Payments is a must for 100% penetration in India. Also, incentives should be given initially to the users as that will help to onboard the new user into digital payment platforms. Aim should not only be reaching the elite groups but the entire Indian citizens as it makes the transactions more easy. Cyber Security is something that should be taken very seriously in the context of India as it involves one of the largest population sets of the world and the data transferred would be enormous.