A report by the Boston Consulting Group and Google has stated that cashless or digital transactions will overtake cash transactions in the next seven years. India, which is touted as the world’s fastest economy is predicted to add 300 million internet users by 2020.
The report published by in the Hindustan Times says that non-cash transactions will grow from the current 22 percent to 40 percent in 2020, and to 59 percent by 2025. At present, cash circulation accounts for 18% of the country’s GDP which is much higher in comparison to UK and US having somewhere between 3.5 to 8 percent.
The report comes in the wake of the advent of mobile wallet companies like Paytm, Freecharge, Mobiwik, Suvidha which are witnessing an exponential growth in the recent times. Paytm, which is arguably the biggest names in this sector, recently ventured into automobile sector after it partnered with Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd, reports Financial Express.
In May this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio programme urged people to switch to cashless transaction so as to bring in transparency which will help in unearthing black money, reports Economic Times.
Last year, the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India together formed a committee to work out on possible solutions which can reduce cash transactions in the economy. It also mentioned that RBI and commercial banks annually spend around Rs 21,000 crore in currency operation costs, reports Business Standard.
(Feature image source: PTI)