RBI’s Payments Vision 2025 document will make financial inclusion a reality, say experts

BENGALURU:   The Reserve Bank of India’s Payments Vision 2025 document will aid in driving digitisation at the last mile and it shows the regulator’s intent and the road map to enhance the outreach for digital payments, say fintech firms.

The central bank, which released the document last week, expects the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to register growth of 50% and more than 3x increase in the number of digital payment transactions by 2025.
Commenting on the document, fintech firm BharatPe’s CEO Suhail Sameer said the regulatory emphasis on expanding the card acceptance infrastructure across districts and connecting the UPI with other modes of payments will make financial inclusion a reality for millions of Indians.

Over 26 crore digital payment transactions are processed daily by payment systems, of which UPI system itself processes more than two-thirds, said RBI. Also, there has been an increase in unique users of mobile banking and internet banking by 99% and 18%, respectively, between March 2019 and September 2021.
While the unbanked and underbanked are queuing up for tickets, the digitally savvy skip queues using prepaid cards.

Just as National Common Mobility Card offers transit payments solutions, RBI should consider building new use-cases for prepaid and contactless cards, those which power payroll, remittances and fund transfers, among others, said Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder and CEO, PayNearby.

While UPI has been at the forefront of the digital payment ecosystem driving online payments through an easy interface, cash usage continues to dominate the economy. Bajaj added that leveraging on their appeal as a non-cash alternative, RBI’s stance to develop a conducive framework for the long-term growth of PPIs will aid in driving digitisation at the last mile,” he added. According to Rajesh Mirjankar, CEO and MD of Kiya.ai, internationalisation of UPI will be crucial since it benefits the Indian residents and their counterparties globally.