Mobiles will soon replace ATMs, debit/credit cards: NITI Aayog CEO

Amid the ongoing digitisation drive in India, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant opined that monetary transactions would soon engulf the usage of debit and credit cards as well as ATM, thereby making the latter "redundant" in the next three-to-four years.

Addressing a gathering at the Amity University here on Saturday, Kant claimed that the trend of using mobile phones for digital transactions is at an all-time high presently, adding that this would further increase in the near future.

"India will make credit cards, debit cards and ATMs technologically redundant in next three-to-four years and we all will be using mobiles for our transactions. With India being a country where 72 per cent population is below 32 years of age, it will have an advantage over other regions like the US and Europe in terms of the demographic dividend," he added.

Hailing India as an "oasis of growth in the midst of barren economic landscape," the head of the government's think tank opined that the nation needed to scale greater heights in terms of growth rate.

"India is the only country in the world with billion biometrics and as many mobile phones and bank accounts. Therefore, in future, it will be the only nation which will make a lot of disruptions. India is passing through a window of demographic transition, which rarely happens in history," he said.

"Around 72 per cent of India is below the age of 32 and the population will keep getting younger and younger till 2040. We need a society which will constantly innovate and disrupt," Kant added.

On a related note, Kant was conferred with an honorary doctorate degree from the University.