Indian homes expected to make half their payments digitally in 3 years

• As mobile phones facilitate seamless payments, digital transactions by households are estimated to cross 50% by FY26, says a Redseer report.
  
  
• Online shoppers are expected to grow by 50% in 3 years.
  
  
• UPI as payment option is expected to almost double from 350-380 million.
  

The Indian digital payment ecosystem has been swelling in the last few years but by FY26, it will grow significantly, says a report by Redseer Consultants and Pine Labs. So much so that Indian households will do half of their payments digitally in three years. Currently, 35% of payments are done via digital modes.

“Customers use digital payment methods in 80% of grocery, food delivery, and travel transactions. With mobile phones facilitating seamless P2M payments, digital transactions by households are estimated to cross around 50% by FY26,” the report said.

Moreover, FY26 will be a landmark year when it comes to digital payment adoption as per the report. As of FY23, 400-450 million people performed online transactions which is expected to rise to 700-750 million.

Added to that, unique mobile payment users who use UPI or wallets as a digital payment mode is expected to almost double from 350-380 million now to 650-700 million in three years.

“UPI has gained widespread acceptance among the masses as the most popular digital payment method. PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, and Cred account for over 95% of the market share,” Redseer said.

Buying online, paying digitally

One of the biggest boosts to digital payments comes from online retail — as the act of shopping itself is going online. Moreso, Bharat i.e. India that resides beyond big towns is also taking to online shopping, increasing adoption of digital payments.

“Our research suggests that online shoppers in India are expected to grow by 50% in the coming three years to reach over 30 crore by FY26, further paving the way for the reach of online payments in the country,” said Jasbir Juneja, partner at Redseer,

The other popular services that people pay online for are — food delivery and mobility which is represented by cab and bike aggregators.

On the other end, businesses are taking to the trend too. Around 75% of the 70 million businesses are digitally enabled. This number is expected to rise to 85% by FY26.