According to a recent report, Unified Payment Interface (UPI) transactions in semi-urban and rural stores have recorded a massive 650 per cent rise in 2022. The report, published by the Branchless Banking and Digital Network app PayNearby, also showed a record growth of 25 per cent in value and 14 per cent in volume when it comes to assisted financial transactions across the semi-urban and rural retail counters this year.
Although the average cash withdrawal per transaction recorded a slight downward trend from Rs 2,620 in 2021 to Rs 2,595 in 2022, the report highlighted a 25 per cent increase in the demand for micro-ATMs and mPOS instruments. Moreover, there was more than 200 per cent growth in the EMI collections records of financial institutions and NBFCs.
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While referencing the report during a media interaction, the PayNearby Founder, MD and CEO, Anand Kumar Bajaj also said, “Bharat is aspirational, and the increased off-take of green shoot services like assisted commerce, OTT subscription, and micro-lending validates our commitment to make these services easily available at a store nearby.”
The report findings reiterated the behavioural changes of Tier II and Tier III city consumers and confirmed what many industry experts have already voiced. Consumers in rural and semi-urban regions have adopted assisted financial transactions in massive numbers for their everyday lifestyle and other transactional requirements. The incorporation of easy-to-use UPI methods of payments into the lives of people along with the growing use of smartphones in these regions is two primary reasons for such growth.
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Moreover, the sharp increase of more than 200 per cent with a monthly average of Rs 1,400 crore in the cash collection business (which includes the EMI option) is another indicator that the country’s economy, especially the lending and financing sector, is diving back to its pre-pandemic standards.
Touching on this topic, Bajaj further said, “We have serviced close to Rs 70,000 crore of digital services in the first 10 months of this calendar year and the steady growth of cash withdrawal business, together with the fast track adoption of some of these green shoot services indicates a steady recovery of our economy post the devastating impact of the pandemic.”
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