Payments Industry Stalwarts Discuss Ways of ‘Widening the Less-cash Horizon’ at Digital Money Conference

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India: The 12^thedition of Payments Council of India’s annual conference ‘Digital Money’ was organised on 4^th December 2019 at Taj Lands End, Mumbai. The theme of the conference this year was 'Widening the less-cash Horizon'.

The discussions at the conference revolved around growth opportunities in payments and how in the coming years India can become a ‘Less-cash Economy’, furthering financial inclusion through payments, Digital KYC, Transit Payments, Payments Frauds, Innovations in Payments and many more.

The day-long conference had discussions addressing trends which are shaping the less-cash landscape in the country & different facets of digital payments. This platform was used to evangelise and promote the payments space as one of the pillars for driving the digital giant dream, which has the potential to generate revenue and employment generation for the country.

Delivering the welcome address at the conference, Vishwas Patel, Chairman, PCI and Director, Infibeam Avenues said, “There has been a massive growth in the digital payments space, and the industry is expected to reach up to US$500 Billion monthly by 2020.”

He also stated that PCI represents more than 90% of the digital payments industry & is striving to grow each day to bridge the gap between the industry and the regulators.
Taking the session forward, a keynote address was delivered by Christophe Mariette, Commercial Director, Lyra & Chairman, Lyra India where he mentioned, “70% of India is still a ‘Cash Economy’, but the fast adoption of instant payments like UPI and multi payments integration at the merchants will lead to better acceptance of digital payments by the consumer in the coming years.”

Addressing the delegates, Anirban Mukherjee, Head- Naspers Fintech and CEO, PayU India said, “Saleability & sophistication are the two key players in the growth of payments industry. We must handhold SMEs and other smaller groups, in order to ensure financial inclusion and a full ecosystem approach.”

Highlighting that there has been a huge shift in the transactional landscape in India since 2010, with digital transactions increasing by 51% between 2018-19, Benedict Xavier, Head – Digital Banking, New Initiatives and Analytics Business, FSS stated, “The 5 critical growth imperatives for less-cash India are partnership with unicorns, driving digital commerce, promoting participation, treasuring trust of the consumer & adapting technology.”

12^th edition of Digital Money witnessed the gathering of high-profile industry stalwarts such as, Shri S. Ganesh Kumar, Executive Director, RBI; Shri P Vasudevan, Chief General Manager, Department of Payments & Settlement Systems, RBI; Shri Vivek Srivastava, General Manager, Department of Banking Regulation, RBI; G Padmanabhan, Non-Executive Chairman, Bank of India; Naveen Surya, Chairman Emeritus, PCI & Chairman, Fintech Convergence Council; Ram Narayana Boga, MD & CEO, SBI Payment Services; Jitender Gupta, Founder, Citrus Pay & Jupiter Money; Varun Dua, MD & CEO, ACKO General Insurance; Jaya Janardanan, COO, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank; Abhishek Arun, Senior Vice President, Paytm; Bipin Preet Singh, Co-Founder & CEO, MobiKwik; Srinivasu MN, Co-Founder& Director, Billdesk; Rishi Gupta, MD & CEO, Fino Payments Bank; Sohini Rajola, MD & RVP, India & South Asia, Western Union; Praveena Rai, COO, NPCI among many others.

This conference conducted by PCI, has been able to serve as a learning platform for its participants to understand new-ageless-cash trends in the country, acting as a platform for industry stalwarts to collaborate, regulators to lead initiatives & experts to provide insights that will drive the growth of the Digital Payment Industry.

About PCI

Payments Council of India was formed under the aegis of IAMAI in the year 2013 catering to the needs of the digital payment industry. The Council was formed inter-alia for the purposes of representing the various regulated non-banking payment industry players, to address and help resolve various industry level issues and barriers which require discussion and action. The council works with all its members to promote payments industry growth and to support our national goal of ‘Cash to Less Cash Society’ and ‘Growth of Financial Inclusion’ which is also the Vision Shared by the RBI and Government of India. PCI works closely with the regulators i.e. Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Finance Ministry and any similar government, departments, bodies or Institutions to make ‘India a less-cash society’.

About IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India)

Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI] is a young and vibrant association with ambitions of representing the entire gamut of digital businesses in India. It was established in 2004 by the leading online publishers, and in the last 15 years has come to effectively address the challenges facing the digital and online industry including mobile content and services, online publishing, mobile advertising, online advertising, ecommerce and mobile & digital payments among others.

Fifteen years after its establishment, the association is still the only professional industry body representing the online industry in India. The association is registered under the Societies Act and is a recognized charity in Maharashtra. With a membership of nearly 300 Indian and overseas companies, and with offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata, the association is well placed to work towards charting a growth path for the digital industry in India.

Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI]

Payments Industry Stalwarts Discuss Ways of 'Widening the Less-cash Horizon' at Digital Money Conference

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Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI]

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