With demonetisation coming into the picture in November 2016, there was a major cash crunch in the Indian market. The concept of no-cash transaction slowly started becoming famous.

Quite a number homegrown mobile app started coming up in the new cashless digital India. Based on active groundwork and aggressive advertising these mobile wallet apps saw a surging growth and phenomenon popularity. From a vegetable vendor to a panipuri wala to supermarkets—all started accepting mobile wallets as their mode of cashless transactions.

For example, PayTM by One97 Communications was one of the first to offer cashless transactions. Within just 6 days after the announcement of demonetization, PayTM saw a 200% hike in app downloads and 250% surge in the transaction. This report has been generated by Business Standard.

Mobile wallets in India is simply the beginning of India slowly moving towards becoming a cashless economy. So what are mobile wallets? The answer is simple. Mobile wallets will digitally replace your physical cash wallet and in that digital wallet you can store your credit/debit/prepaid card, cash and any coupons if applicable.

Different merchants are coming up with this online service where you can pre-store your money and use it to pay at different check out payment gateways. All you need to have is an account with the mobile wallet merchant. Once you have an account you can top-up your account with digital cash from your bank account and use it on the go. These mobile-based apps are now being used and accepted world wide.

With the launch of 4G high-speed connectivity, most Indians are now online most of the time. They shop online on the go at their convenience. With so many online scams and fraudulent activities we keep hearing in the papers, most people in India still opt for COD during payment checkout. A new kid in the block is, ‘buy stuff online and pay later’. This type of easy-pay option is taking the online shopping world by a storm. People are happily adapting to buy now pay later online shopping concept.

The ‘pay later’ vendor will pay the money to the online store on your behalf. You can make the payment to the vendor within the stipulated time free of any interest. One of the key objectives of such digital payment solution is to provide you with a more secured buying option. You are not using any credit card or debit card while making your purchase. Therefore, your account information and card details are remaining 100% safe.

Coming back to mobile wallets, you must be wondering how mobile wallets are becoming so popular among always skeptical Indians? The fact is, India has over 940 million mobile subscribers—this number is far more than people having bank accounts, rural areas included. Moreover, India is slowly moving towards technological space, India is becoming mobile and digital. Smartphone is becoming increasingly popular among Indians and easily affordable.

Moreover, your financial details and bank information are remaining intact. Along with this you need not carry your credit cards or debit cards with you or a good amount of cash in your physical wallet. All you need to do is load the mobile wallet with the desired amount and keep your mobile phone handy.

There are four types of mobile wallets you can choose from:

• Open wallet
• Semi-open wallet
• Semi-closed wallet
• Closed wallet

High flexibility, enhanced speed, secured option and possibility of limited loss are major reasons why people are opting for mobile wallets. Only ensure that any mobile wallet you choose must be licensed by RBI.