Improving digital payment trends in rural India is crucial given the growing
impact of ICT penetration, demonetization, and digital activities for small businesses in
rural sectors. The shift to digital payments can offer benefits such as transaction
transparency, reducing parallel economy, and improving ease of doing business.
Although various digital wallets such as Paytm, Mobikwik, and PhonePe have been
introduced and the government has launched UPI solutions like the BHIM app, rural
banking consumers still struggle to embrace digital payments due to the lack of digital
literacy. India has a large rural population, but only a small percentage is digitally
literate, hindering digital payment adoption. This research study examines the
significance of digital literacy in the current banking environment, focusing on issues,
opportunities, and difficulties related to the adoption of digital payments in the rural
banking sector.
Keywords: Digital transactions, Demonetization, Digital payments, Digital divide, Government, PoS, Rural, Rural india.