Digital payments now preferred by 90% people: Amazon Pay India CEO Vikas Bansal

Talking to ANI, on the sidelines of Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2025, Bansal said, "The progress that the country has made due to digital payments is very good. 90 per cent of people now prefer digital payments. Offline payments, which were previously done only in cash, now more than 50 per cent of people prefer digital payments for offline purposes."

He pointed out that the adoption is no longer limited to urban centres.

Citing to a joint report released by Kearney India in collaboration with Amazon Pay titled 'How Urban India Pays 2025', he highlighted, "Digital payments are increasing rapidly among women, in big cities, small cities, everywhere. UPI is being preferred for small-value payments and daily payments. Digital wallets are also being used a lot for small-value payments, as they are done easily, there is no failure."

Bansal noted that while UPI leads the digital payment ecosystem, other instruments are also gaining popularity. "UPI is at the forefront, along with it, the preference for digital wallets, credit cards, and Buy Now Pay Later is also increasing, as mentioned in our report," he said.

Summing up the widespread adoption, Bansal stated, "Right now, from men to women, from small cities to big cities, from small payments to big payments, the penetration of digital payments is increasing everywhere, so we are very happy about it."

According to the report, Digital payment volumes in urban India rose 35 per cent in FY25, led by women, young professionals, and small-town consumers embracing new ways to pay digitally.

The report highlights how aspirational buyers are broadening digital transactions across spending categories, with digital methods now preferred not just for high-value purchases like electronics and apparel but also for recurring categories such as utility bills (87 per cent in 2025 vs 83 per cent in 2024), reshaping the payments landscape as India moves toward a USD 7 trillion digital economy by 2030.

Women are emerging as powerful drivers of this transformation, with 89 per cent preferring digital modes for online purchases, a shift from earlier reliance on cash.

This trend extends to women entrepreneurs, where 80 per cent run their businesses digitally, with UPI (34 per cent ) leading the charge, followed by cards (20 per cent ), and wallets (8 per cent ). Affluent women are also displaying a greater inclination toward credit-led transactions -- 69 per cent prefer credit cards, drawn by rewards and financial flexibility -- while middle-income segments continue to favour UPI and wallets for their everyday spends, it said.

The report finds India's digital story deepening outside metros, with offline usage in small towns rising to 50 per cent in FY25, compared to 62 per cent in metros. Tier 2 cities such as Lucknow, Jaipur, Kochi and Bhubaneswar are rapidly catching up with metros, reflecting strong digital payment openness and transaction growth.

This momentum is being further accelerated by innovations such as tap-and-go payments, co-branded credit cards, and buy-now-pay-later options, which are gaining mainstream traction driven by speed, convenience and inclusivity, the report added. (ANI)