The next orbit of financial inclusion will be in the offline world

Payment solutions will allow transactions when connectivity is poor or if there is a systems breakdown

Last Wednesday saw the launch of a heavy-lifter in payments: UPI Lite X for offline. This offering from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will enable millions to transact digitally, dancing around connectivity issues and rejected transactions. Just how big is the addressable market for offline payments in the country? “It’s essentially the personal consumption expenditure where customers do not spend digitally, either via Unified Payments Interface (UPI) or cards. This market is about $2 trillion,” says Ranadurjay Talukdar, partner and payments sector leader, EY India. 

Let us situate offline in the wider digital payments universe: buoyed by new