56% merchants still do not accept digital payments: Survey

As much as 56 per cent of the merchants still do not accept digital payments because of the risks and cost of handling cash along with a fear of income loss after adopting digital payment solutions, a new survey has said.

"More than half -- 56 per cent -- of the surveyed merchants still do not accept digital payments. Fear of an income loss can be a key determinant for merchants to adopt digital payment solutions. Reduced time, risks and costs of handling cash is another reason," a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) - Deloitte India survey said.

The study titled 'Demonetisation for Merchants - The Promise, Potential and Practicalities' was conducted to gain an understanding of changes after demonetisation and focussed on two modes of digital payments -- cards (debit and credit card) and mobile wallets.

Sixty-seven per cent of the merchants who accept digital payments said that they did so because of customer demand post-demonetisation.

"Customer demand and convenience are the primary reason for merchant's to accept cards and mobile-wallets," it added.

The survey noted that given the importance of setting up card infrastructure, onboarding micro and small merchants (with annual turnover less than Rs 15 lakh) was an important first step in a journey to a less-cash society.

The petrol pumps surveyed in the study recorded 100 per cent acceptance of digital payments, while the grocery stores (20 per cent) and restaurants (16 per cent) had the lowest acceptance of digital payments.

"The metros (Mumbai -- 87 per cent -- and Delhi/NCR -- 68 per cent) see higher acceptance of digital payments in comparison to non-metros (Ghandinagar and Jaipur -- 33 per cent, Nagpur -- 37 per cent and Thrissur -- 30 per cent)," the survey revealed.

There has already been an estimated two-times volume growth in point of sale machines' (PoS) usage and mobile wallet transactions post-demonetisation, the survey added.

--IANS

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