IBEF BLOG

INDIA ADDA – Perspectives On India

IBEF works with a network of stakeholders - domestic and international - to promote Brand India.

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Authors

Dikshu C. Kukreja
Dikshu C. Kukreja
Mr. V. Raman Kumar
Mr. V. Raman Kumar
Ms. Chandra Ganjoo
Ms. Chandra Ganjoo
Sanjay Bhatia
Sanjay Bhatia
Aprameya Radhakrishna
Aprameya Radhakrishna
Colin Shah
Colin Shah
Shri P.R. Aqeel Ahmed
Shri P.R. Aqeel Ahmed
Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar
Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar
Alok Kirloskar
Alok Kirloskar
Pragati Khare
Pragati Khare
Devang Mody
Devang Mody
Vinay Kalantri
Vinay Kalantri

Giving Cash A Run For Its Money

Giving Cash A Run For Its Money

After running a successful cash-based economy, India is now ready to leap frog to the next level. What beckons us today is an unparalleled opportunity to propel the nation towards digital money and digital transactions. India is still largely dependent on cash payments. As much as 95% of all transactions happening in the country is powered by cash. But it’s time to change that, it’s time to bring in the era of digital money. MobiKwik, the mobile wallet connecting 25 million users to a network of more than 50,000 retailers, is today well-placed to disrupt and re-invent how payments are done in India.

Picture this; India has around 30-40 million SMEs, of which only around 1.1 million have deployed point-of-sale (POS) machines and only about 0.7 million of them accept any form of electronic payment. The challenges get amplified when we take into consideration the fact that out of 500+ million debit cards issued in India, only about 10% of them are actively used for making payments. Or consider the fact that credit card penetration is low in the country and stands at less than 30 million. We are eager to fill up these gaps and enable easier access to digital payments for everyone.

In 2014, MobiKwik successfully built out its semi-closed wallet, enabling it across a multitude of digital businesses. Users who could earlier use the wallet only to pay their bills, recharge their phone, etc could now pay for their food, travel & cabs, shopping, and entertainment purchases using MobiKwik. From BookMyShow and eBay to Myntra and MakeMyTrip, MobiKwik become the preferred mode of payment on a lot of popular e-commerce brands. By the end of 2014 transactions on third party websites and apps accounted for around 35%-40% of MobiKwik’s business. The success on the e-commerce side made us focus on the next big market in India- offline payments.

Our tie ups with Big Bazaar, Café Coffee Day, WHSmith India, and many more offline retailers is path-breaking in terms of introducing mobile payments to brick-and-mortar stores in India. We are delighted to see our users join hands with us to make the dream of living in a digital India come true! Our recently launched cash pickup service, where users could get cash picked up from their doorstep and added to their mobile wallet, has also been welcomed by our users. This service further allows us to tap into those set of users who are either unbanked or uncomfortable using their card or net-banking services to make digital payments. In fact, more than 70% of the population is still unbanked and that presents a huge market for us to address. We aim to bring them into the financial fold, help them start transacting digitally.

Today, a MobiKwik user can actually spend an entire day without having to use cash. For a working professional MobiKwik is available on Uber for daily commute. For her morning coffee, she has the mobile wallet to make the payment from. For mobile recharges, electricity bills, or DTH services payments can all be done in 1-tap, saving a lot of time that can be put to more productive use. At the end of a hard week or day, a user can book a movie ticket by paying with MobiKwik and even buy groceries using the wallet. A user today, doesn't need to use cash when eating out, because even fine dining restaurants accept MobiKwik wallet payments. And if she is ever short of cash, she can just log in to MobiKwik app to top up her wallet, no need to step out anywhere for even a minute!

We are excited not only to be a part of this revolution, but also to lead many of the innovations and initiatives that give direction, shape, and form to the unfolding future.

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