Are We Ready to Depend Entirely on E-Payment?

The past few years have changed the online payment game in India. The growth of e-commerce and digital payment has reached a new level, and the Indian payment market is experiencing dynamic growth. So it is crucial to understand where the future is leading. 

During the Covid pandemic, with many restrictions on travelling and hand-to-hand contact, many users switched to online payment methods as an alternate solution. But then, recent research proves that users are no longer turning back to cash. Now at the forefront of the e-payment market, India will surely see significant trends in its future. From BNPL getting more preferred to secure tokens becoming more popular, the future of digital payment looks too bright with booming opportunities. 

But the Indian e-commerce payment scene starts changing even before the pandemic. In 2019, India recorded its highest Fintech setup. Over 65% of Fintech accounts got registered in the last five years. According to reports, India’s payment industry will likely grow by 300% by 2025, with 2 out of every three transactions becoming online. 

What are some of the most trending online payment methods? 

Keeping up with the growing public need is important for the success of any business. Currently, every 2 out of 5 transactions in India is digital, and the forecast is only for this number to lean more towards digital payment services. Similarly, many online payment options provide much more efficient cashless ways. 

Tokenization

• The process of tokenization is coming in trend with time. The process will turn sensitive data into an equivalent and replace it with a token. 
• The token will become unuseful to anyone trying to steal data since it will not have any original sensitive data. 
• Thus, the token will only work as a symbol of the original data.
• Not only will this reduce the risk of fraud in future, but it will also increase customers’ trust in the company. 
• The process will be more prevalent in card tokens, bringing the future closer to fully digitalized. 

Buy Now, Pay Later 

• The BNPL options are becoming more and more popular among Gen-Z. 
• The process is easy and accessible, making the BNPL industry hit skyrocketing success in very little time. 
• Not only are BNPL options making things more affordable, but it also does not affect the credit score in most cases. They are making BNPL the first choice in many cases. 

Digital Wallets

• Digital Wallets is another e-payment option that will excel significantly in upcoming times. 
• Since these options do not require an account with a physical bank, online payment is easier for users. 
• Digital Wallets stores all the sensitive information compactly and securely, making it easier to do online transactions.
• The wallets mostly work along with Near Feild Communication (NFC) technology. This technology allows devices closer to each other to communicate and share data easily. 
• Digital wallets will make contactless payments much more effortless. 

How are payment gateways making the space more customer friendly 

When we talk about easier online payment accessibility in future for the country, it is important to think about every part of the country. The gap between rural and urban India is coming closer due to better options, ensuring that every citizen easily gets to shift towards the digital economy. Even though we are moving closer to being completely digitalized, there are still issues that work as barriers. It could be due to fear of fraud or the language interface in which online gateways are primarily available. 

1. It is crucial to make the space more inclusive by removing the problem coming upto due to language restrictions. One such option is Checkout for Bharat. 
2. This personalized payment solution prevents language from becoming a barrier to a fully digitalized India. 
3. Checkout for Bharat lets the users choose the language based on their preference by providing a choice between English, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, and Kannada. 

Personalized User Experience and rise of “super” app

The future of digital payment services is a more secure and inclusive space for everyone, and payment gateways providing such options will play an important part in the digitalized economy. Providing a choice between languages will help the public and businesses provide a better user experience. It could even be a pro factor for businesses focusing on rural and semi-rural areas. 

Along with that, payment apps are fastly working towards providing more personalized options. The future might be options beyond traditional payment methods. Many payment partners are looking toward the ‘Super app’ with detailed customer data to provide highly personalized services. Globally, super apps are growing upto becoming an ecosystem of online transactions, and it will be interesting to see the growth in India as well. 

How is India securing its digital payment future? 

Cash will no more be th running factor of the market. With the country aiming toward complete digitalization, the risk of online fraud may also increase. 

Ensuring tight safety is also crucial to pushing online payment methods forward. Biometric Authentication is helping a lot in keeping transactions secure. 

Biometric Authentication

• Biometric Authentication includes fingerprint scanning, facial recognition, iris recognition, heartbeat analysis and more. 
• The approach is towards a secure system due to the unique biometric assistance. It is considered a helpful method to fight against identity theft and fraud. 
• The system also helps towards building customer support and trust in the brand.

Central-KYC 

• Currently, KYC is also playing a role in discouraging users from signing up for e-payment options. Complete KYC requires physical biometrics or video calls along with other requirements. 
• After the introduction of CKYC or Central-KYC, customers will need to go through the KYC process only once to access different services. After that, the KYC records will be present in central facilities and available for future use. 

Conclusion

 The online transaction industry is set to only become more successful in the country, According to reports done by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), in 2021, the UPI transaction amount was recorded upto rupees 8 trillion, and this amount is only going to increase in future, The online ecosystem will most likely grow upto $1 trillion by 2026, and India’s journey will definitely see more innovations in the upcoming time. 

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