Hyderabad: The discussion on digital adoption and transactions is for real in Telangana. The youngest state in the country has ranked number one in the rate of digital adoption in India, according to the FICCI-IBA Annual Banking Conference (FIBAC) 2017 report.
Telangana in 2016 had only 9% savings account holders using debit cards at point of sale (POS), but in 2017 this snowballed to 32%, as per the analysis of the Boston Consulting Group and FIBAC 2017. The digital adoption rate of India on the whole increased to 18% in 2017 from 9% in 2016.
This analysis is based on the number of savings bank accounts that made active transactions at POS as of March 31, 2017. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana are the only states where the difference in metrics of previous year to the current year is greater than 20%.
The transactions have seen a visible increase using digital channels like Mobile Phone, POS, Internet and ECS.
TS bid to boost e-payments bears fruit
The transactions using e-wallets across the nation has seen a significant increase and mobile banking has got broader acceptability. However, the effect of e-wallets is now seen to be stabilising to a new normal, as per the report.
According to IT secretary Mr Jayesh Ranjan, “This outcome is due to measures taken by the state government to boost digital transactions. People, merchants, hawkers and traders were coached to accept digital payments at village, district and mandal level under the digital literacy programme.”
It may be mentioned that TS government and AP government have their own wallets. In its digital literacy campaign, TS is extensively promoting the T-wallet. While the government is providing T-wallet as a service, further penetration would boost the numbers.
