Mobile wallets Q1 transactions volume drops 4% in India

The number of transactions done on mobile wallets in Q1 2020 was 1.08 billion and the value of transactions was ₹429 billion in India, recording about 4% drop in volume and about 6% drop in value over Q1 2019, a report said on Tuesday.

However, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) recorded a substantial transaction volume of 3.87 billion in Q1 2020, an increase of 81% from a year ago, said the report from payments company Worldline India.

In terms of value, UPI facilitated transactions worth ₹6.45 trillion, up 84% from the previous year, according to the report titled "India Digital Payments Report - Q1 2020".

Five banks joined the UPI ecosystem in Q1 bringing the total number of banks providing UPI services to 148 as of March 2020.

The data showed that in Q1 2020, there were 4,251.73 million mobile apps based transactions and 811.61 million net banking / Internet browser based transactions.

In terms of value, mobile apps based payment channels processed transactions worth ₹15,674.12 billion and net banking / Internet browser based transactions facilitated transactions worth ₹94,580.39 billion.

It is evident that consumers prefer mobile apps frequently for small ticket size transactions and net banking / browser based channels for high ticket size transactions, said the report.

In Q1 2020, the total credit card transactions volume was 553.87 million.

The total value of transactions processed through credit cards was ₹1,792.94 billion.

Debit card transactions volume and value in Q1 2020 was 1,273.40 million and ₹2,300 billion respectively.

"As social distancing, work from home, online meetings etc. become part of our daily routine, we will likely see an increase among consumers wanting to spend cashless," said Deepak Chandnani, Managing Director, Worldline South Asia & Middle East.

"With over 886 million cards, 5 million POS terminals and solutions like UPI, FASTags etc. gaining momentum, our country has the potential to empower consumers with contactless solutions."

Worldline India said the report is based on analysis of transactions available in public databases as well as transactions processed by the company in the January-March period of this year.