Digital payments trust hits 60% in India this year

Growing trust in digital payments by Indian consumers is recently reflected in the rise of the usage of digital payments multiple times per week for festive season purchases, according to a new study.

The study conducted by YouGov and ACI Worldwide, a global provider of real-time digital, payment software, and solutions, revealed that 60% of consumers had used digital payments platforms including eWallets and UPI. This shows growth compared to the 57% recorded last year.

Ankur Saxena, country leader, South Asia of ACI Worldwide, said the growth is “encouraging’”

“This reinforces the fact that digital payments are becoming an even more integral part of our daily lives, as India continues to shine as a global leader in real-time, digital payments,” Saxena said in a statement.

The latest research showed that digital payment tops the other payment method of choice for festive season spending at 41%.

This is followed by cash at 26% and debit and credit card payments at 23%.

Only 6% of respondents in the study have no intention of using digital payments this festive season, dropping from 9% a year ago.

There’s also a decreasing concern over digital payments fraud with 24% of respondents identifying it as a concern compared to 30% last year.

Most respondents considered digital payments the most secure way to pay. This is 9% higher compared to the 24% registered in 2020. It is just behind cash-on-delivery at 35%.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) generated 3.65 billion transactions worth Rs 6.54 trillion in September, according to the latest data from The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

The recent record broke all previous records both in transaction volume and value.

Monthly transactions on the UPI platform have also nearly doubled since a year ago when there were 1.8 billion transactions worth Rs. 3.29 trillion monthly.

The survey involves was 1,001 adults as samples. Fieldwork was undertaken in October 12-15, 2021. The survey was carried out online and the figures have been weighted and are representative of all Indian adults (aged 18+) in the following Tier 1 metro areas: Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.