More Indians opt to pay bills through Internet

By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 09 June 2009, 15:00 IST   |    2 Comments
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More Indians opt to pay bills through Internet
Bangalore: Gone are the days when a person had to stand in a long queue to pay utility bills, thanks to e-payments, the task has now become simpler. Today, people can pay their electricity bills while sitting in office by using their credit cards. In India this new facility for the consumers has been growing at a phenomenal pace. "Ever-increasing technological changes, growing Internet access and mobile subscriber base, rising consumer confidence, and convenient delivery and payment models are the prime factors fueling this trend," says Prathima Rajan, Analyst with Celent, a financial research and consulting firm. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), due to the surging number of internet and mobile phone users, India will see a retail e-payment market of $150 billion by next year. Earlier, since internet access was very limited and expensive people were comfortable using cash and cheque to make their payments. "Today, the proliferation of telecommunication networks and mobile phones has helped in the growth of e-payments," says Nilaya Varma, Associate Director, PwC. In terms of mobile subscriptions, India is the world's second-largest wireless market after China. Currently, there are 261 million mobile subscribers, including 73 million rural mobile users. As a result, India's retail e-payment market is likely to grow by nearly 70 percent in the next two years. The value of retail e-payments should reach between $150 billion and $180 billion by 2010, according to a report by Celent. According to Celent, the Indian debit and credit card market grew at a compounded annual rate of 128.7 percent between 2004 and 2008 and is expected to reach 210 million cards by 2010. The report expects debit card circulation to increase to 169 million by 2010, up from 102.4 million today, while credit cards may increase from 27.5 million to 40 million during the same period. PayPal is increasingly being used in India for cross-border trade through e-commerce sites for the sale of gemstones, jewelry, electronics and household items and for services such as Web design, travel and digital content. Mario Shiliashki, General Manager, PayPal South East Asia and India says, "E-payments are growing in popularity across the globe and India is no exception."