GlobalData’s report, ‘India Cards & Payments: Opportunities and Risks to 2023’, reveals that the government’s demonetisation move in November 2016 triggered a large push away from cash-based payments. Following the move, electronic payments registered significant growth. The total card payments doubled from 3.5 billion in 2016 to 7.8 billion in 2019 while the number of credit transfers grew by over four times during the period.
To further accelerate the trend, the government announced complete abandonment of fees merchants must pay on payments (the merchant discount rate (MDR)) through the government-backed RuPay debit cards as well as via the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), the instant payment system, from 1 January 2020.
Moreover, the government has mandated that all businesses with an annual turnover of INR500m (USD7.2 million) must allow payments through RuPay debit cards and UPI QR codes.
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