60% of Indian shoppers use digital payments multiple times per week: Experts

At a recent meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pointed out that digital transactions in India jumped 19x in the last seven years. ACI Worldwide, a US-based payment systems company, has released a report that states that digital payments in India are expected to be around 71.7% of the total payments volume by 2025.

The pandemic has accelerated the transition to digital payments mode as people have taken to online buying to minimise physical contact and for the convenience factor, even in Tier 2 & 3 markets and beyond.

Adgully, as part of its premier #TwitterChat #GullyChat property, turned the spotlight on ‘Digital Payments ecosystem: The bumps on the road to a cashless India’. While digital payments are on the rise, there are still some concerns that need to be addressed and ironed out. This #GullyChat is part of the build up for Adgully’s MOBEXX Summit & Awards 2021, which will be held on November 30.

Joining in the discussions were some leading experts in this field:

Aditya Kumar, Founder, NIRO

Ajinkya Kulkarni, Co-founder, Wint Wealth

Aman Ahuja, VP - Business Solutions, India & Global Markets, WIBMO

Amit Das, Founder, Think360

Sharing his observations on the growth of the digital payments ecosystems in India, and how the pandemic period accelerated its adoption, Amit Das, Founder, Think360.ai, said, “In the last decade, digital payment adoption has accelerated – wallets, UPI, QR codes, faster settlements, merchant networks, etc. The pandemic and its risks accelerated the switch to non-cash/ physical transactions. However, the groundwork was laid well before that.”

He added, “We definitely see 10-20% growth every quarter, even now, as the country is coming back to normalcy, we are in a habit formation cycle. The Indian fintech space is head and shoulders above the rest of the world (probably, excluding 1-2 countries).”

Ajinkya Kulkarni, Co-founder, Wint Wealth, noted, “With cash becoming a risk factor to the spread of the COVID virus, people have quickly resorted to digital payment. The boom in the Indian fintech industry has accelerated the growth of Digital Payments to an unprecedented level in a short period. The Union Budget (2021) earmarked Rs 15 billion for schemes towards incentivising digital payments, this was a testimony to the growth and need to develop the ecosystem to attain the vision of ‘Digital India’.”

Adding to this, he also mentioned that fintech platforms have successfully been able to deliver financial inclusion in a way that banks have not been able to with features like Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL).

Aditya Kumar, Founder, NIRO, added here, “Various surveys have shown that the pandemic continues to bring about changes in consumer behaviour and attitudes towards digital payments. A recent survey done by KPMG revealed that over 3/4th of the users find it easier to use digital payments, against last year, with a similar number using digital payments for online commerce transactions (as opposed to cash on delivery).”

Aman Ahuja, VP - Business Solutions, India & Global Markets, WIBMO, said, “65% of Indians are millennials and are quick to adopt newer payment methods. Studies show that now 60% of Indian shoppers use digital payments multiple times per week. This festive season has surpassed sales of the pre-COVID-19 period, thanks to digital transactions and consumer adoption.”