Will Mobile Wallets Revolutionize Customer Purchasing Patterns Or Is It Just A Passing Wave?
The onset of the demonetization scheme from the 8th
of November 2016 has been marked with nearly every shop in the locality
pinning up a paper displaying a Paytm
scan code. This is an unequivocal and absolute evidence of the fact that mobile
wallets can no longer be considered as a passing wave but instead, it is slowly
and steadily strengthening itself as a medium for day-to-day transactions.
Moreover, the emergence of new players such as iKaaz, mRupee and Vodafone-m-Pesa is an indicator of
the profit generation that the segment of the mobile wallet is capable
of. More number of players simply implies greater longevity of the
industry in discussion. In addition to the ease of service, the discounts and
rewards on offer are being deemed successful in alluring a greater faction of
the population towards the use of mobile-based payments.
Now, everything comes with a set of pros and cons;
the same is the case with mobile wallet. Mobile network and connectivity, which
is the crux for e-wallet, is by far the biggest obstacle. Then again, the
number of tech-savvy people is increasing exponentially every day, with people
finding new ways to get connected. A certain section of the country, which
still fears using a power bank for mobile charging, is reluctant to progress
towards this concept of cashless transaction. But as time passes, this industry
will skyrocket by leaps and bounds and this is the common conclusion that all
the experts and strategists have come to.
Benjamin Franklin said that “time is money” and
mobile wallet without any doubt is the constant balancing out the two variables
in Franklin’s quote, by saving up on time while dealing with money.
PS: This article of mine was chosen for the best 'perspective'
entry for the December 2016 edition of Markathon, the marketing
magazine of IIMShillong.
The digital magazine can be found here,
with my entry on page 22.
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