Digital payments in India have risen by a huge margin. Contributing factors include the penetration of smartphones, cheap Internet plans, the introduction of top-notch payment products, support of the Government, and the combination of no-frill bank accounts, the Aadhaar card and mobile connections. During the pandemic, digital payment applications have seen increased usage because people were confined to their homes and had to order necessities from online platforms that only accepted digital payments. Certain shops and restaurants had also introduced a no-cash policy during the COVID-19 pandemic so as to minimize contact.
According to the Ministry of Electronics and IT, the total volume of digital and online payments in the country increased by 33% year-on-year during the financial year 2021-2022. During this period, 7,422 crore digital payment transactions were recorded.The National Payments Corporation of India's unified payment interface (UPI) emerged as the most used digital transaction platform, with a total of 452.75 crore transactions having a value of 8.27 lakh crore, until the end of February.
India registered over 25.5 billion real-time payment transactions in the year 2020. This is the highest in the world and about 60% higher than in China.Applications like PhonePe, BharatPe, Paytm, and Google Pay have surpassed other digital payment mediums of the likes of credit and debit cards.As India takes a large stride in terms of digital payments, it is anticipated that this network of users of online payments will only expand in the coming years. And why wouldn't it? Digital payments are instantaneous and leave traditional modes like cheques trailing behind. It is easier to maintain transparency in transactions and reconcile them with greater accuracy. Additionally, digital payments offer high security and a low risk of theft. And they're contactless - something that is important during these times.