The Future friendly International Payment Solutions for India

As COVID19 knocked us down in many ways, it has proved to be a boon in disguise for the fintech market in India and across the globe because payment digitization has evolved a new definition.

If we keenly observe the fintech market of India, it is thriving and is not planning for a halt anytime soon. India was climbing the ladder of the digital economy at a gradual pace, but with the pandemic finally entering the phase of endemic, has changed the dynamics and future advancements of digital monetization.  

If we talk a bit about the future steps taken by the Indian moguls and start-ups in the fintech industry, they are aiming to move 2x ahead as the future of funding is contactless, secure, quick, and transparent.

Fact Bank 

1. From a global perspective, India is a hotspot for the fastest-growing fintech markets in the world. Currently, India is the home to more than 2,100 fintech, out of which over 67% were established in the last five years. 
2. Currently, the value of the Indian fintech base is $31 billion and is expected to grow to $84 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 22%. Whooping numbers, right? 
3. Observing the Indian fintech turf in 2021, India’s United Payments Interface (UPI) has seen the participation of 224 banks and recorded 2.6 billion transactions worth ~$68 billion, witnessing a jump of 15x from just since 2018.  
4. Moreover, another reason for the rise in monetary digitization is the growth in smartphone users. According to the stats, in 2020, India had 550-600 million smartphones (60% higher than the corresponding number in 2016), and the number of internet users has taken a toll in the past four years.

Always remember that with COVID19, the gradual growth of fintech faced a boom. Similarly, the expected numbers could surpass or depress the graph of expectation.

Future-ready steps by a few Fintech Gurus in India

RuPay – #FollowPaymentDistancing

It is the new campaign initiated by RuPay to encourage the ‘Tap and Pay’ payment. RuPay’s new contactless card permits the customers to pay without entering any PIN for transactions up to Rs 5,000. Keeping the ongoing COVID19 crisis in mind, this is a beneficial deal for both customers and merchants. Moreover, the National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI), has unveiled RuPay Autopay, a much-needed provision that allows an auto-debit system on recurring payments that would facilitate convenient and touch-free transactions.

Praveena Rai, COO, NPCI, says, “We believe that contactless is the present and future of payments. With this campaign, our purpose is to educate and encourage consumers for an upgrade in their card payment experience; an upgrade that spurs innovations in the timeliness, convenience, safety, and security of contactless payments, be it in the online or physical environment,”

Moreover, RuPay is all set to ‘On-The-Go Wearable’ technology that supports a seamless payment cycle. The future of fintech in India is indeed assuring and experimental. 

Not just payments – peripheral benefits also matter

Earlier, we expected our traditional payment method to ensure a secure payment path to host a domestic or international payment. With changing needs and increasing demands, we require or expect more from our payment solutions. 

If a brand understands the psychographics and acts accordingly from the beginning, the organization is ready to reap fruitful rewards such as – brand loyalty, increase in customer base, reliability, and novelty. 

Payment solutions such as Stripe allow the user to generate digital invoices, assist in e-signing and drafting contracts. Similarly, an international payment solution called PingPong facilitates in creating virtual bank accounts (based on your area of trade or freelance) on the international front and helps in the transaction at a highly contentious market rate. Moreover, they also provide a free digital Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC) after every international payment. 

Plurality in Usage

For instance, there is an XYZ international payment provider that caters to regular customers and traders. Whereas, there is another cross-border payment solution named PingPong, that caters to Amazon sellers, merchants, service providers, freelancers, payment for vendors and suppliers, and daily users. In your opinion, which payment solution would be in demand? PingPong, right.

The future of cross-border payment solutions holds inclusiveness, a carefully curated digital monetary must be a haven for every type of customer existing in the market. It attracts more audiences, creates credibility, and builds brand value in the fintech market. 

How about Social Media + Wallet?

As per the stats, we spend four hours surfing and scrolling through our smart devices. Out of which we mostly spend our time scrolling and chatting via Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and Whatsapp, then why not these social infotainment sources could also be channelized as a wallet?

Bearing this idea in mind the think tanks clubbed the concept of social media + wallet and gave birth to Whatsapp Pay, Facebook Messenger for payment, and Novi (Facebook’s cryptocurrency wallet) is in the pipeline and shall hit the market soon. 

Facebook Messenger payment is restricted to the US and supports only PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard. And cryptocurrency or bitcoin is still a dream or foreign product on Indian turf. Undoubtedly, these digital assets are one of the future facets of the fintech industry, but for India, it is an untrodden way for millions. 

Blockchain – The new revolution in the Fintech

Blockchain survives on these principles, and they are the foundation of future fintech solutions. 

1. Supply chain financing and management
2. Detection of Fraud
3. Data storage and management
4. Secure payment solution (ensuring a safe, quick, reliable, and low-cost international payment processing)
5. Regulatory compliance and audit

Blockchain stepped into the fintech market in 2008 by introducing bitcoin. After a few years, the future of investment and transactions are changing. Blockchain holds the potential to boost the global economy to $1.76 trillion, major stakeholders in this growth being the US, China, Turkey, Brazil, etc. 

Mobile Commerce expansion

As we step into the digital era, it is all about apps. According to Statistica, in 2016, 140.7 billion apps were downloaded, and the number saw a whopping hike where; more than 204 billion mobile apps were downloaded in 2020.  

The future is mobile-friendly payment solutions. Therefore, owning an app would turn out to be a beneficial step for payment solutions. A few of the payment solutions that own apps are – Google Pay, PayPal, Paytm, Stripe, Payoneer, etc. It creates a quick, responsive and convenient payment tool for the user because it is just 2-3 clicks away (including the biometric and PIN authentication)

That’s the reason why many e-commerce stores have a direct pay button that helps you checkout in a hassle-free manner. 

Collaborations give birth to stronger contenders

Mergers and acquisitions in the fintech market mean – giving birth to future payment solution moguls, boosting revenue and customer base, and turning potential threats or foes into partners. 

In February 2021, Payoneer announced its merger with FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp. This decision would effectively take the payments and e-commerce-enabling platform company public. And the result will be:

1. The enterprise value of the combined company is expected to be about $3.3 billion. 
2. And the payment solution is expected to have up to $563 million in cash.

The future-friendly payment solutions are as follows:

PayU

It is a payment solution that assists you in hosting successful payment transactions. With PayU Payout you can pay your employees, vendors, reimburse employees payments, send refunds to customers. They even work on weekends and holidays, awesome, right?

PingPong

This international payment solution caters to multiple currencies and facilitates transactions in more than 170 countries. Be it freelancers, Amazon sellers, service providers, e-wallet users, merchants, or daily shoppers, PingPong is a kitty for all that serves your needs exclusively with knowledgeable and efficient customer care at a highly competitive market rate.

They offer peripheral monetary benefits too, such as – free e-FIRC and payments of VAT and GST. 

PayPal

This solution has turned out to be a renowned brand in various countries. They are taking steps towards crypto opening the doors towards future payment trends by keeping safety and usage in mind.

PayPal is more ideal for businesses. Though they charge more than the regular international payment solutions, they have earned reliability due to which millions are paying the high price for trusted and transparent international and domestic transactions. 

Stripe

Apart from catering to multiple genres of the audience, they also offer additional services that not every international payment solution offers. Be it creating the invoice in various templates, curating the contract, etc. 

Apart from differing charges, this too is one of the relied payment channels by the international audience.