Payments Snapshot in India - COVID-19 Impact Snapshot

Summary

The Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak, dubbed COVID-19, is first and foremost a human tragedy affecting millions of people globally. The contagious coronavirus, which broke out at the close of 2019, has led to a medical emergency across the world, with the World Health Organization officially declaring the novel coronavirus a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

Economic growth in India slowed down during the first quarter of 2020 and set to further decelerate if the disease is not controlled at the earliest possible opportunity. The decline will have an adverse impact on all sectors, including banking and payments.

While the government is easing restrictions in a calibrated manner, the surge in daily active case numbers is a worrisome factor with the country seeing a spike in new cases across several states, which remains a key challenge ahead. India now has the third-highest COVID-19 cases in the world behind the US and Brazil.

This report focuses on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on both the economyand the cards and payments industry in India. Based on our proprietary datasets, the snapshotprovides a detailed comparison between pre-COVID-19 forecasts andrevised forecasts of total payment card, debit card, and credit and charge card transactions by value and volume. It also offers information on measures taken by the government to combat coronavirus.

Scope

• Coronavirus has had a profound effect on India’s tourism industry. According to the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH), the tourism sector is set to lose INR5tn ($70.13bn) in revenue due to the pandemic.
• As consumers are switching from in-store to online purchases in order to avoid exposing themselves to disease vectors such as cash and point-of-sale (POS) terminals, there has been a rise in online purchases. Leading e-commerce retailers Flipkart, Amazon, Bigbasket, and Grofers have seen a 20-30% increase in orders each month since the outbreak of the virus.
• Additionally, when shopping in-store, consumers will shift from cash to digital payments, particularly mobile wallets, to avoid exposure to disease vectors such as cash and POS terminals. As a result, the use of mobile payments is expected to grow.

Reasons to Buy

• Make strategic decisions using top-level revised forecast data on the Indian payment industry.
• Understand the key market trends, challenges, and opportunities in the Indian cards and payments industry.
• Receive a comprehensive insight into payments market in India.