Digital payments continue to grow; tier II, III towns witness significant growth: Razorpay report

Digital transactions have continued to grow at a strong pace in the country with increasing acceptance in tier II and III towns, a report by fintech firm Razorpay said. Digital transactions have grown by 80 per cent during November 30, 2020-August 6, 2021 as against the previous 250 day-period, indicating the strong acceptance and adoption of digital payments in the country, the report said.

It noted that digital payments had seen a drop of 30 per cent during the first 30 days of the lockdown last year. “Soon, the ecosystem started to come together to help each other and we saw a 23 per cent growth within 101 days of the lockdown. And now, digital transactions have grown by 80 per cent from the first 250 days (March 25, 2020 – November 29, 2020) of these new times to the next 250 (November 30, 2020 – August 6, 2021),” it added.

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The report said that on August 6, 2021 – which marks the completion of 500 days of pandemic-related restrictions — a new lifestyle for disruptors and disruptive businesses has emerged with digital payments as its financial backbone. Not a single sector has shown negative growth during the last 250 days, reflecting their openness to innovation and acceptance of digital modes of payments, it said.

“Businesses, especially from tier-II and III cities have been a major boost for digital payments exhibiting a growth of 40 per cent from the first 250 days to the next 250 days…the demand for payment options like Paylater and EMI has been mounting and has displayed growth of 220 per cent already,” it added. Razorpay CEO and co-founder Harshil Mathur said the last 500 days haven’t been ordinary as almost every person and business has realised the need for digital awareness and presence. “I expect this revolution of FinTech to extend from payment innovation to business banking innovation in the next two years, he added.