From Looking Bright to Looking Uncertain:Evolving Payment Wallet Scenario in India

The introduction of digital wallets, Universal Payments Interface (UPI) and other new-age payment services has opened up new possibilities for sustainability of ideal cash less economic system. Traditionally, India is a cash-based economy with large proportion of its population neither financially literate nor having access to a formal banking system. Additionally India is also world's second biggest evolving smart phone market with over 220 million smart phone users. This highlights the increased penetration of mobile services and the possibility of adopting total digitization by continued customer education and adoption of newer technologies. Thrust to this is also added by various digital initiatives by the government which is adopting digitization at a faster pace and at the same time rolling out customer friendly digital platforms for faster and effective delivery. With reference to the above trend of being digital, this research paper focuses on the evolving "fintech" viz financial aspect of digital transaction and its relevance to the payment processing industry, but particularly the concept of e-wallets or digital wallets.