Multiple players in digital payments are frenemies, say experts

In a thought leadership series 'Future of Payments... moreIn a thought leadership series 'Future of Payments' in partnership with Cashfree, the panel deep dived on how the payments industry can stay ahead in these uncertain times. Akash Sinha, Co-Founder and CEO, Cashfree highlighted that Covid had boosted digital payments. He said that customers moving to digital wanted immediate settlement like what they were used to with cash, and digital/mobile payment companies needed to mirror this behaviour in their digital services. Tanya Naik, Director, Payments, PayPal India highlighted how many more customers were coming onto digital payment platforms due to the coronavirus pandemic, as the need for contactless payments had intensified. She added it was critical to ensure that the digital payment platforms were 'tenacious' and always available for smooth on-boarding of first-time users. According to Aman Ahuja, VP, Core & Digital Products, MasterCard, digital payments landscape with its multiple players had a 'frenemy' concept: Collaboration and competition at the same time, while referring to the possible Reliance Jio-WhatsApp tie-up. He said that for the future growth of the digital payments space it was critical to give a frictionless payment experience to users all the time. Sinha from Cashfree while rounding off the discussion from the participants' side said the way forward was that companies must design their purchase experience for customers as digital payments first; not something that is fitted later