Virus boosts digital payments in India where cash ban failed

Three-quarters of consumers in India reported greater use of digital payments since the virus outbreak. — Image by Free stock photos from www.rupixen.com/Pixabay

The coronavirus outbreak may finally accomplish what India’s shock demonetisation four years ago failed to achieve: Use of digital payments is soaring for everything from groceries, electricity bills and cab fares.

The value of transactions on the Unified Payments Interface, a platform created by India’s largest banks in 2016, reached an all-time high last month as people feared to handle banknotes amid the pandemic. Electronic fund transfers from banks, which had dropped in April as economic activity slowed almost to a halt, have also rebounded.