Special Report: The Impact of Lockdown on Digital Payments

Life during a pandemic is not something we anticipated. With social distancing, these trying times have affected the way we go about our daily lives. While we are still confined to our homes, trying to keep safe from COVID-19, the distress still persists. The pandemic has also devastated businesses across industries, including digital payments.

We analysed the digital payments made before and during the lockdown for our 5th edition of The Era of Rising Fintech report and gathered some noteworthy observations and insights.  

All findings in this report are based on digital payments made on the Razorpay platform during March and April 2020.

Key highlights

• There was a 180% surge in NGO donation transactions in the past month since the beginning of the lockdown
• During the lockdown, industries like utilities (bill payments), IT & software, and media & entertainment grew by 73%, 32%, and 25% respectively
• Industries like logistics, travel, real estate, and food & beverage were hit the hardest as they observed a slump of 87%, 83%, 68%, 54% with closed establishments and cancelled travel plans
• Mobile wallets exhibited impressive growth in the lockdown period, with Jio Money growing by 66%, Amazon Pay by 63%, and Paytm by 43%
• In tier 2 and 3 cities, the mobile wallet wave swept over as they continued to witness a massive surge in wallet transactions for bill payments
• Before the lockdown, UPI at 46%, remained the most preferred payment mode and continued to be so at 43%, 30 days into the lockdown
• We firmly believe that fintech companies are likely to gain the profound trust of Indian consumers in the months to come
• With tier 2 and 3 cities rapidly adopting the digital route for making payments, we foresee a gradual rise in digital transactions across industries

Fintech: 2020 and beyond

• The trade impact for India has been estimated to be $348 million, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development
• We believe that the pandemic may boost demand for fintech-related services for consumers and offline businesses
• We can also anticipate an expansion in various spheres like consumer banking, neobanking, as well as wealth management 
• Investments in financial technology and opportunities for partnerships are likely to grow manifold as the fintech industry continues to burgeon steadily