CIO & LEADER-November 2017 (1)

EDITORIAL
Shyamanuja Das
shyamanuja.das@9dot9.in
Digtal
Payment:
Understanding
the Shift
P
After more than a
year, it is probably
time to take a
dispassionate look
at the real impact of
demonetization on
digital payment in
India. What better
way than analyzing
data to ensure that
dispassionateness?
Post-demonetization, when we were left
with literally no money in our pockets, it is
Paytm that most of us turned to. Some of us
had Paytm accounts; some of us did not. And
the only thing that separated us, the Paytmhaves,
from our Paytm-havenot friends, is the
use of Uber services. Yes, almost all of us had
signed up for Paytm because initially, that is
the only form of payment that Uber accepted.
After some time, while the cab-aggregator
started accepting cash, we stuck to wallets
because it was far more convenient. Yet,
few used Paytm for anything else. And
here, I am talking of a set of people who
have been using non-cash payments
such as credit cards and debit cards for
several years now.
Why did we start using Paytm? Elementary,
my dear Watson; that is the only
type of payment the neighborhood kirana
store accepted; that is the only form of
payment Mother Diary outlets in Delhi
accepted; the usage was everywhere.
After more than a year, it is probably
time to take a dispassionate look at the
real impact of demonetization on digital
payment in India. What better way than analyzing
data to ensure that dispassionateness?
That is what we have done, largely, in this
issue’s cover story.
So, what are the findings? I do not want to
give them away here but can actually say this
much—it does confirm the anecdotal evidence
that digital payment enhanced its breadth
post-demonetization, reaching sections that
had never used that before. The headline on
the cover would have given you that already!
We have also tried to figure out what it
could mean for businesses? The consumer
businesses and digital payment systems support
each other. Initially, the (ab)use of Uber
started Paytm.
Talking of Uber, at the time of writing, it is
there in news for wrong reasons—for allegedly
failing to report massive compromise of
customer data and paying hackers to hide it.
Well, when we talk of digital payments,
digital business, digital India and 4th industrial
revolution, we cannot close our eyes to
this real threat. In case of payment, a hack
could actually mean a direct financial loss to
all parties
November 2017 | CIO&LEADER
1