' 72% who earlier used debit cards only for cash withdrawals, now making cashless purchases 3 times a week'

Ever since the government announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes will no longer be valid, there has been a surge in the use of mobile wallets, debit cards, internet banking and other forms of digital transactions. A recent analysis by Walnut, a personal finance app, shows 72% of debit card users who have never swiped on PoS devices or online purchases and used it only to withdraw cash from ATMs are now making payments with debit cards. 

Walnut says that the average cashless purchase frequency has gone up from 1.5 times per week in the initial period of demonetisation to 3 times per week in the second week of December 2016, says Walnut. Delhi users have shown the maximum increase with 500% jump in cashless transactions compared to pre-demonetisation, while Chennai has shown the lowest growth at 250% jump. The disruption of internet services by cyclone Vardah in Chennai might have played a role in relatively slower jump in cashless transactions.

 

Amit Bhor, co-founder Walnut said “It is heartening to see that not only are people turning cashless for the first time, but their average cashless transactions are also increasing week-on-week. This shows a growing confidence among users towards cashless payments. Even on Walnut, the bank-to-bank money transfer service has seen a 10x growth in number of transactions”