A Study of Factors Affecting Consumer Preferences on E-Wallets

Authors

Mr. Dheeraj Kumar Sandey
BIMM, Sri Balaji University, Pune, India.

Abstract

As e-commerce continues its rapid growth in the Asiatic region, mobile wallets have become one of the most trusted and preferred ways to pay online. Most of these wallets incorporate multiple payment methods, from bank transfers to credit cards, debit cards, gift cards and more. That way, consumers with or without credit cards, can use mobile wallets. In-store payments drive mobile wallets adoption to a large extent, as more than 90% transactions occur in-store. Mobile wallet providers have now become a kind of mini banking institutions (Payments banks) and it would not be surprising if they will get their banking licenses, and follow the path like Paytm, Airtel etc. This will be very lucrative if we take into consideration the Government’s agenda of financial inclusion. Paytm has over 140 million wallet users, which is double that of Visa and Maestro penetration together (in India). Over and above this, in a country such as India & BRIC nations the remittance market is huge. These Payment banks can also leverage in this landscape. The financial institutions/e-commerce/lifestyle shops have realized the potential of mobile wallets in terms of consumer experience and loyalty. That is why each one of them is coming up with their own wallet which can be seen with the launch of SBI YONO, BookmyShow’s own wallet to name a few. It would be relatively easier for banks vs a non-bank product, because they already have a trusting customer base and their product is less likely to suffer from interoperability. This research was carried out with the aim to identify the various factors leading to the increasing preference of customers on switching from traditional modes of payment to digital payment.