The banning of high denomination notes in India has led to a surge in the use of electronic payment systems. A number of Chinese companies are investing in India's fintech industry. Will the changes make India a cashless economy? Let's take a look.
After the withdrawal of high denomination notes from the economy- training camps like these have become a common site in urban India. E-wallet companies are educating people to use their mobile phones for hassle free transactions. Cash crunch in the economy has forced DP Rupal, a retired government official to go digital.
"I was also a little hesitant how can I use it, but the person who has just explained to me it has taken hardly one minute and I am very much satisfied and it is going to help me as I don’t have to go to the bank and stand in a queue by using this mobile I can make payments for all my needs I can make payments."A citizen Dp Rupal said.
Like Rupal for many harried Indians e-wallets have come as a relief to avoid bank queues for currency. The e payment players have increased their customer base by about 400 percent in a month.
"We were targeting 500 million users by 2020 but now we are targeting them by 2018, so we have fast-forwarded the plan by two years.“said Vijay Shekhar Sharma,CEO of Paytm.
E-wallet brands are capitalizing on the favourable environment and are looking for new investments to cater to the customer needs.
"only 250 million Indians have access to smart phones therefore we are creating products an which cater to the feature phone users as I you can give a missed call and make a transaction and it is not as dependent on data connectivity. 1:10 1:27 Industry clip number 211."said Jagriti Motwani,spokesperson of Mobikwik.
While the fintech industry is busy finding solutions to the problems of connectivity and infrastructure, there are other hurdles in the way of India becoming cashless. We are here in a slum in the middle of Delhi where a large chunk of the workforce lives and the challenge here is to actually convert illiterates into digital literates.
This slum in Delhi inhabits a fraction of 26 percent Indians who cannot read or write. Vishal Jha , a cook by profession, has a bank account but is illiterate. He says if India goes cashless he will be in trouble.
"I can only pick a call or make a call rest I am not educated. I don’t understand anything about the phones. If we go cashless people like m will have to fight a lot to adapt and we will become dependent on others for everything. I will not be able to manage."said citizen Vishal Jha.
To add to this illiteracy is 40 percent population which is out of formal banking system. For a smooth transition from a cash economy to a cashless one the government will have to create awareness and educate people.
