6 KEY TAKEAWAYS

Digital retail payments surged due to cash squeeze after demonetisation, but they came down as cash was restored in the system.

Digital retail payments started rising once again in July 2017 after GST was implemented. They have surpassed cash withdrawals from ATMS once again. GST has been a better and more consistent stimulant for digital payments than demonetisation was.

Both pull and push factors are responsible for the rise in digital payments.

Incentives from digital payment platforms and e-commerce websites have attracted consumers from traditional purchases which were mostly carried out in cash.

The willingness to become a part of the tax-credit chain under GST has brought new businesses under the indirect tax net. This has made them amenable to accepting digital transactions.

NON-POS transactions, such as mobile banking have grown at a very fast pace in India, and account for two times more transactions in value than debit card and credit card swipes at POS machines. This shows that mobile phones, rather than Credit/debit cards are driving the rise.

One should wait for a longer period to claim that the shift in favour of digital payments is permanent.