The Road To Achieving Pervasive Digitization

There is no doubt that digital transactions are on an upswing in the country.

However, despite the rising popularity of digital transactions, the segment is still grappling with numerous challenges. Some of these key challenges along with possible solutions necessary to achieve a successful and large scale digitization are discussed herewith:

Accessibility: For a successful cashless economy, financial inclusion is imperative. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is one such successful step which has created 18.15 crore bank accounts in rural/semi-urban areas and 12.7 crore in urban geographies, adding 23.27 crore RuPay debit cards to the cashless ecosystem. Further, UPI and Bharat QR scan & pay instruments have simplified cashless transactions and made it accessible for the rural and marginalized income groups with lower literacy rates. But there still remains a large divide in the cashless instruments and the available infrastructure to use them. For e.g. there are currently over 830 million debit card users in the country with only 2.9 million POS terminals, where these can be swiped. Matching the rise in digital payments instruments with accessible payment infrastructure is a vital challenge that needs immediate attention.

Digital literacy: With the second largest population of internet users in the world, India is an active digital player when it comes to entertainment, social networking, communication, online shopping etc.