Financial Inclusion: An Impetus to the Digitalization of Payment Services (UPI) in India

Financial Inclusion: An Impetus to the Digitalization of Payment Services (UPI) in India

The ecosystem for digital payments in India has expanded quickly during the last decade. A synthesis of technical advancements and progressive governmental laws and regulations has fuelled this expansion. Particularly, the UPI system has assisted India in transitioning from a nation heavily reliant on cash for daily transactions to one with fewer cash transactions. The study attempted to determine how Financial Inclusion (FI) through a socio-techno-ecosystem impacts digital payment systems. FI involves ensuring financial services, products, and an adequate amount of credit without discrimination against the weaker section of society. The study has established that FI impacts the UPI. The finance infrastructure thus helps to develop an ecosystem where financial access and the awareness level help people to transit to new channels of payment. We have used secondary data of 27 banks for sixteen quarters and four years, i.e., for the financial years 2016–17 to 2019–20. It is observed from the current study that the offsite_ATM plays a significant role in the value creation of the UPI. Our study implies that it will help retailers, individuals, and business houses to use UPI platforms for swift payments without hassle. Also helpful for industries that are still not digitally disrupted and industry-specific UPI transactions.