Survey throws insights into the link between prosperity, access to financial services and the role of fintech, for more than 10,000 people across 18 high growth markets.

PayU is very proud to announce the findings of its first Financial Prosperity Barometer. The landmark global report was undertaken to understand the link between perceptions of prosperity and access to financial services, in line with PayU’s vision to create a world without financial borders where everyone can prosper. We wanted to understand what does ‘prosperity’ mean to different people? Is its meaning the same across all the high-growth markets in which we operate?

The survey was conducted across 18 markets including India, on over 10,000 people globally. Throughout this report, we have unearthed the depths of these different views on what it means to be prosperous and looked at how access to different financial services can impact them. The report throws up fascinating global insights such as over 75% of respondents believe that financial services can help people plan for future prosperity and 50% of believing they could not be prosperous without access to financial services. However, prosperity isn’t just linked to finance, as over 30% of respondents listed ‘being happy with your life’ and ‘good health for friends and family’ as the key characteristics for defining ‘prosperity’. Only 25% of respondents feel that ‘being wealthy’ in itself is necessary for prosperity.

The India-specific findings reveal interesting insights, with many respondents clearly identifying a link between access to financial services and an increase in personal prosperity. It also discloses a number of consumer trends when it comes to financial services. Some of the regional variations and interesting trends in India are:

PayU Infographic
  • Over 85% of digital Indians believe that financial services help people plan for their future prosperity
  • Close to 80% of them have found financial services helpful to become more prosperous
  • 85% of Indians felt the government’s larger role will be beneficial for accessibility to financial services
  • A majority (80%) of digital Indians are confident that they know how to make good financial decisions
  • Although there have been numerous conversations of the economy slowing down, the PayU Global Financial Prosperity Barometer reflects that over 77.25% are comfortable with the current financial state of their households and majority of them expect it to improve over the period of next 12 months (83.50%)
  • For Indians, prosperity means much more than financial stability. Close to 40% of digital Indians believe that being happy, having a loving family and good health of family also equates to being prosperous
  • Over 80% of Indian respondents felt their ease to borrow money is linked to living a more prosperous life
  • 40% of Indians surveyed prefer traditional bank to borrow money, with an increase in demand for borrowing money from digital money providers. Most Indians still believe that the biggest social and emotional benefit of saving and growing one’s money is to be able to plan for the family’s future
  • Ease of Access – When it comes to ease of access to financial services a majority of respondents reported ease of access to saving and investing money. Of all the services, over 80% have easy access to depositing money, 79% of respondents said they had easy access to send and receive money, 74% said they found it easy to insure the property against accidents and 73% said they found it easy to access somewhere to save and grow money for the future
  • Digitally inclined India – While traditional banks continue to lead as a platform for people, online platforms are becoming more & more popular. 58% of the people surveyed used a website to transfer money, 51% used an online site to deposit money and 49% used online websites to borrow save and grow money
  • There is a growing use of smartphones to access financial services – Over 55% of digital Indians interact with their financial service provider through smartphone apps to send or receive money from elsewhere

“At PayU, our vision is to create a world without financial borders where everyone can prosper. It is insightful and interesting to discover the strength of the relationship between access to financial services and perceptions of prosperity. For India, a few things stand out, firstly that the notion of prosperity goes beyond purchasing power and is linked to the ability to create wealth and safety nets for oneself and one’s family and secondly the degree of dependence and adoption of internet technologies to access financial services. I think it shows the customer appetite for financial services and is a great opportunity for fintech players,” said Anirban Mukherjee, CEO of PayU India.

To access and download the report please click on: PayU Financial Prosperity Barometer

To access other materials please click on: Video and Financial Prosperity Barometer landing page

With more than 4.5 lakh merchants, PayU is India’s leading all-in-one payment solution. Now to enjoy the best payment gateway experience and grow your business effortlessly, 

8