More Indians turn to e-payments as country bans high denominations

Global Business

More Indians turn to e-payments as country bans high denominations

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. Now, will the changes make India a cashless economy?

CCTV’s Ravinder Bawa reports.

After the withdrawal of high denomination notes from the economy, training camps 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.

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.

E-wallet brands are capitalizing on the favorable environment and are looking for new investments to cater to the customer needs.

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. A large chunk of the workforce lives in slums in the middle of Delhi and the challenge is to actually convert illiterates into digital literates.

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.


Ankur Patel with the latest on India’s economy

As India is making major adjustments to its monetary system, how has the rest of the economy managed as the deadline for its currency ban? To discuss in details the current situations of Indian economy, CCTV America’s Rachelle Akuffo spoke with Ankur Patel, co-founder and chief investment officer for r-squared macro.