India’s ‘Zurich intermediaries’ struggle with digitalisation

In India, where intermediaries such as Uber, GoPay, and Flipkart are often at the forefront of digitalisation efforts, the emergence of the virtual currency bitcoin as a viable alternative to fiat money has raised questions about whether digital payments will become the norm in the country.

“There is a lot of concern about digital payments and their impact on the existing payment systems,” said Vicky Kavas, a director at Mysuru-based technology consultancy TechVala, who advises the government on digitalisation.

“The problem is that the money can get into people’s hands and is often not used for payments.

Bitcoin is a viable way to make payments in India without the intermediaries and it is becoming the preferred option.”

Kavas said that for many people, digital payments are the new way to go online and that digital payments in general will be the new norm by 2020.

“This is the beginning of a revolution and will probably be the change that India is looking for,” she said.

The challenges of digital paymentsThe challenges facing digital payments have already been pointed out in a 2015 paper by a group of US economists called Digital Payments and the Global Economy: Challenges and Opportunities (PDF).

“The emerging use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for payments is the first instance in history where the public has become more aware of its use for payments,” they wrote.

They warned that the emergence as a digital alternative is likely to create a new “financial system of value” and that the current financial system “cannot accommodate a digital transformation”.

They pointed to the need for “financial regulation” that ensures the safety and soundness of the financial system, which is “underdeveloped”.

Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, has seen a meteoric rise in popularity in recent years and has attracted the attention of some in the financial industry.

Its price has increased from around $1,000 a coin in 2011 to over $400 in the past year.

It has also attracted interest from businesses and government, with some predicting it could become a major player in the global payments industry.

In India, the virtual currencies have become a mainstay of the payments ecosystem.

According to a survey of online retailers conducted in March this year by online marketplace platform ecommerce giant Flipkare, 86 per cent of respondents had used bitcoin in the last year.

India has about 1.6 billion people, but its gross domestic product (GDP) is only about 5 per cent the size of the US, China or Russia, which together account for about 40 per cent.

In terms of the country’s GDP, India is home to about 7.4 million people.

India is also home to the world population, and a number of Indian companies are based in the US.

Bitcoin is currently trading at $1.2, according to CoinMarketCap.

That is up from $1 last year, when the digital currency had a value of $0.3.

However, this is a volatile market and it has a high volatility, and volatility is likely in the future.

“Bitcoin is volatile.

This is not surprising given its potential for disruption and volatility.

This volatility will increase in the coming years,” said Kavanso.

“There is nothing that can be done about it.”

The problem with digital paymentsIn a recent paper by the Reserve Bank of India, researchers examined how the digital payment ecosystem has evolved in India, and found that the payments sector was “largely untapped”.

The paper, entitled “Digital Payments in India: A New Frontier?”, said that digital payment technology “is a potential platform for the development of a new global payments system”.

The researchers said the main obstacles to developing this new system were the lack of trust in digital payment platforms, the lack and inability to measure and monitor transaction volume, and the lack or inability to secure a global platform.

“Digital payments can have the potential to disrupt the current payment system by changing the payment processes in ways that have not been envisaged before,” the researchers wrote.

“Digital payments are often used to facilitate remittances, make payment payments in multiple currencies, facilitate payments in remitties, facilitate payment payments to consumers, facilitate transfers to and from foreign financial institutions, and facilitate remittance transfers to third parties.”

According to the authors, India has “experienced rapid and growing digital payments growth”, but the “market is still immature and lacks clarity about how payments should be conducted”.

The paper concluded by pointing to the importance of establishing trust in the payment systems.

It added that “digital payment systems need to be well-secured and audited”.

“The failure of digital payment systems to be audited, monitored, or securely managed is likely a significant barrier to the growth of the digital payments market.”