Implementing cash-lite ecosystems across villages in India

• Nov 3, 2018
• 1 min

MSC partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) across select geographies to demonstrate how cash-lite ecosystems can be promoted and fostered in rural areas. This intervention was in context of the digital revolution currently underway in India. The Government of India continues to promote accessibility and usage of digital modes of payments across India as well as a “cash-lite” economy. Over the past few years, the digital revolution has received important impetus from a range of policy reforms and innovations designed to make the Indian economy depend less on cash.

MSC’s intervention took place in three Indian states—Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and Odisha. The intervention helped to increase the penetration of bank accounts from 80% to 95% in target locations within five months.

After the intervention, 100% bank accounts in the target locations were Aadhaar– and mobile number-seeded—a prerequisite for doing digital Aadhaar-enabled transactions. In the state of Odisha, mobile number linkage to bank accounts increased from 12% to 91%. During the process, customers conducted their first digital transaction. At an overall level, digital transactions increased by 30-35% within five months.

In Ramnagar city of Varanasi district in Uttar Pradesh, MSC worked on strategy and implementation plan for transforming Ramnagar into a less-cash village. We increased awareness of the BHIM application and *99# (USSD) by multiple times (from five to 150 merchants). MSC helped to onboard 20 new merchants on BHIM and another 20 merchants on Paytm to accept payments digitally. MSC helped 9% of the weavers receive their salaries digitally in their bank accounts.