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Digital transactions decline in India

Categories : Cash connects people, Cash is the most widely used product
April 12, 2017
Tags : Availability, Banknote/Note, India
As cash becomes increasingly available, Indians are reverting to cash.
Communication Team / Equipo de Comunicación

Preliminary data of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) demonstrates that the value and volume of digital transactions decreased sharply between November 2016 and February 2017. The analysis is based on card payment figures from four major banks, mobile banking data from five banks and prepaid payment instruments of eight non-bank entities.

After the demonetisation of its two highest banknotes, India saw a sharp increase in the volume of digital transactions, from 672 million in November to 958 million in December. Nevertheless, after the situation stabilized and now that more cash is available again, the number of electronic transactions decreased 20% in two months to 763 million transactions in February. The value fell from $1.42 to $1.4 trillion over the past four months. If this trend continues, the government’s objective to reach 25 billion digital transactions by 2017-18 will be extremely difficult to achieve.

Moreover, 9 of 11 digital platforms registered a decline in the number of e-transactions. Unified Payments interface (UPI) and Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) – a biometric identification system used for direct cash transfer and managed by the government – are the only two instruments that saw a steady increase of transactions.

RBI’s data indicate that the volume of cash available rose from $118 billion in December 9, 2016 to $178 billion on March 3, 2017. In an article published by Mint in early March, Viral Acharya, RBI’s deputy governor, stated that the central bank expects to reach full currency in circulation within two or three months, suggesting that digital transactions are set to continue their downward trend as people rapidly return to cash.

To read the original article, please click here.

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