People turn to dating apps for companionship during lockdown: Report

Razorpay study says digital payments have rebounded by 23% the past 30 days, consumer payment behaviour has changed due to stress in income across households

Locked up at home, people have turned to dating apps for companionship, according to fintech company Razorpay’s ‘101 Days Of Covid-19 Era’ report about the impact on digital payments in the country. Social isolation has also led to a surge in online counselling platforms to connect with mental health experts. The social engagement sector which includes personal counselling, dating and matrimony websites has witnessed a 32 per cent growth based on the digital payment data collated by Razorpay.

The report also said that digital payment transactions have rebounded by 23 per cent in the last 30 days. The overall digital transactions declined by 12 per cent in the last 101 days, compared to a 30 per cent drop in the first 30 days of lockdown.

“This is a sign of gradual revival of the digital economy,” said Harshil Mathur, CEO and co-founder, Razorpay. “After witnessing an increased demand for digital payments in Tier-2 and 3 cities, I believe Covid-19 has definitely propelled the final push to overthrow cash, which even demonetisation couldn’t, as Indians now become more comfortable paying for services without cash.”

He said Covid-19 is forcing sectors to digitize as businesses can’t be closed for a long period of time and social distancing is here to stay, for the next 12 months at least. 

During 101 days of lockdown (March 24-July 2), to ensure health and safety from Covid-19, Indians opted to stay indoors and paid bills online - this contributed to the growth of the utilities (bill payments) sector by 163 per cent. Online education sector grew by 23 per cent as extended lockdown has led to a massive rise in demand for online courses. Also, medical services are picking up as online consultations and purchases have increased by 20 per cent.

Karnataka (with 23 per cent), Maharashtra (17 per cent) and Telangana (11 per cent) saw the highest contribution towards digital payments during the lockdown. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu dropped by 35 per cent, 32 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.

During the last 30 days of lockdown (June 3 - July 2), the report said that due to stress in income across households, consumer payment behaviour has changed. Paylater, cardless-EMI and EMI have become preferred payment modes with a growth of 290 per cent, 178 per cent and 125 per cent respectively. When it came to payment methods UPI continued to be the preferred mode and grew by 43 per cent, cards by 40 per cent and net banking by 10 per cent.

Also, during the first 30 days of lockdown, transactions in logistics dropped by 96 per cent due to gaps in the supply chain. Travel sector declined by 87 per cent, real estate by 83 per cent, food and beverage (F&B) by 68 per cent, and grocery by 54 per cent. As people stayed indoors, sectors such as utilities, IT and Software and media and entertainment saw a growth of 73 per cent, 32 per cent and 25 per cent respectively.

Razorpay also said that Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities could continue to demonstrate high adoption of digital payment methods in sectors beyond bill payments.

It also said that while customer demand is high, the value of transactions, have declined. Therefore overall revenue in e-payments markets is likely to decline this year, due to losses from e-commerce, travel, lending and hospitality sectors.