Tech Platforms Acting as a Catalyst in the Adoption of Cashless Payments

Since time immemorial, civilizations have devised numerous payment systems in return for the commodities and services availed. The primordial barter system was replaced in time with the first proto-primitive form of currency, namely coins, forged out of iron bronze and copper. Paper money came into use post that and became the most dominant form of cash transactions across the globe. However, the onset of the 21st century saw a phenomenal advancement in technology, being robustly adopted across all industries and verticals.

In a developing nation like India, the benefits of going cashless are immense. While cashless modes had been gaining traction in the domestic landscape, the implementation of Demonetization Policy by the Indian Government in 2016 gave it a much-needed boost. Moreover, the rising ownership of smartphones and deeper internet penetration has further led to the country witnessing a significant transition towards going digital and adopting cashless modes of payments.

Hereby listing 4 technology strong companies that are disrupting the payments space in India and acting as a catalyst in the adoption of cashless payment/contactless payments in the country:

1. ToneTag: ToneTag is a global technology solution provider, harnessing the power of ‘Sound’ for contactless payments. It is a secured sound wave technology platform which enables payments and proximity customer engagement services on any device, independent of the instrument or infrastructure. Backed by Amazon, Reliance Capital, Mastercard & Amansa; ToneTag was founded by Mr. Kumar Abhishek & Mr. Vivek Kumar Singh in 2013. ToneTag’s sound wave technology is on a mission to truly democratize digital payments ecosystem with the idea of supplying the entire Nation a mechanism to use digital payments. ToneTag has the largest sound wave based network on the planet with 3.1 lakh merchant base & 55 million user base.
2. Razorpay: Razorpay is a payments company that provides payment solutions to online merchants in India. Razorpay was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Bangalore, India. Razorpay is a payments solution in India which allows businesses to accept process and disburse payments with its product suite. It gives you access to all payment modes including credit card, debit card, netbanking, UPI and popular wallets. Razorpay payment solutions can be integrated by both web and mobile applications.
3. Google Tez: Tez is a mobile payments service by Google, targeted at users in India. It operates atop the Unified Payments Interface, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India. It can be used where UPI payments are accepted. Tez works on the vast majority of India’s smartphones (with apps for both Android and iOS) with the Android app supporting English, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu with more languages coming soon. Within 37 days after being launched, Tez was able to get 8.5 million installs, this technology does away with the need for NFC chips on the handsets.
4. PhonePe: PhonePe is a Fin-Tech company headquartered in Bangalore, India. Founded in December 2015, it provides an online payment system based on Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which is a new process in electronic funds transfer launched by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It is licensed by the Reserve Bank of India for issuance and operation of a Semi-Closed Prepaid Payment system. It is a revolutionary way to make mobile payments in India and also provides with a digital mobile wallet for faster refunds and cashbacks from merchant partners.