INDIA 모바일 PAYMENT 현황 및 문제점

The growth of the Indian digital ecosystem has enabled many local companies to become successful due to being early movers in a quickly growing industry – Flipkart (e-commerce), MakeMyTrip (Travel), Naukri (Jobs), Octro (gaming), Gaana (music streaming) to name a few. Most of their audience is now accessing the content or transacting from mobile devices.

Previously, most people accessing online content were doing so from non-mobile devices, e.g. desktop and laptop computers. On an average, this user group has a larger income and is socially more advanced than the average consumer. But now that you can get a smartphone for as cheap as INR 3,000, and content is increasingly becoming more accessible to a much wider demography.

Data from the Reserve Bank of India shows there are currently approximately19.5 million credit cards in circulation in India: a growth of just 4.8% during 10 months: nowhere near the triple-digit growth rate of smartphone ownership. This means already over 100 million smartphone owners are trying to access paid content online but failing to do so. The issue is clearly illustrated by Google Play revenue numbers: India is #3 in terms of global downloads, but disappears from the top revenue countries list.

The lack of accessible online payment solutions creates an opportunity for mobile operators and large-scale adoption of carrier billing as an alternative payment method for people who do not own a credit card. With carriers in the country struggling to keep up with the growth of data consumption, stepping in as a payment provider for the digital economy can alleviate the pressure put on networks.