The government recently said in the parliament that the volume of digital transactions has declined. We spoke to industry experts about the challenges for growth of digital transactions in India
Deepak Sharma, chief digital officer, Kotak Mahindra Bank
When we look at our own data, March has a higher peak especially as a lot of people pay taxes and other payments using net-banking. If I look at January as the base, which was the peak impact of demonetisation, we see our transactions on net-banking and mobile banking still growing at a healthy rate. While I know there are other observations at an industry level, it also depends on how different banks have been able to sustain digital transactions by bringing in more features. In our case, we have seen our mobile transaction value grow by over 22%, even from the peak of demonetisation in January. Net banking growth is not as fast as mobile banking, it is roughly around 12%. Volume wise, certain categories like mobile recharges that have come down. When you look at the slowdown at a broader level, there was an urgency initially for many consumers to adopt digital transactions. The habit formation takes longer than just the initial period. Our learning has been that the learning curve for a digital customer is anywhere between 18-24 months.
Growing digital transactions further will take more communication on how convenient it could be. For instance, you can block and unblock a debit card from an app, and even change its PIN. These may not count as transactions, but drive engagement. Convenience, in the form of having your bank available 24x7 is the biggest incentive for customers.
