siliconindia | | NOVEMBER 20198Innovations in payments technology are changing the way Indians make payments. Barriers to adoption of digital payment methods for businesses and consumers have continued to decrease in recent years, and, as India becomes a less-cash economy, digitaltransactions have risen by approximately 440 percent over the last three years. This represents an enormous shift in India's payments ecosystem, and, for entrepreneurial small business owners, the possibility of a more socially and geographically diverse customer base signals new opportunities for success. However, reaping the benefits of this huge shift towards digital payments is not as easy as simply adopting the technology and doing business. It is vitally important that business leaders and decision makers take the necessary steps to implement data security standards that helps prevent data theft, ensures cardholder data remains secure, and paves the way to further adoption by addressing the concerns of the public.Digital Payments Continue to Gain TractionSince Indian banknote demonetisation began in 2016, a vast number of Indian consumers have been adopting digital payment methods such as electronic fund transfers, card payments, and mobile banking. In fact, as of April 2019, there are 884.7 million debit cards and 48 million credit cards in circulation in India, with over three million merchants in India accepting payments. As a result, businesses have begun to react to these changes, more readily accepting digital payments, and there are now over three million merchants in India accepting digital payments.To accommodate this, innovative payment solutions, such as the use of smartphones for making and accepting payments, have become increasingly important. The transaction value of mobile Point of Sale payments in India has been growing exponentially and is expected to grow by over 50 percent each year until 2023 and business owners are keen to make the most of this. Security is the Key to Harnessing the OpportunityDespite the growth opportunity of digital payments, businesses that operate without a secure payments infrastructure represent an opportunity for cybercriminals and hackers, who are well-equipped and relentless at finding avenues to steal data where the correct precautions have not been taken.PAYMENTS GOING DIGITAL IN INDIA:DATA SECURITY VITAL TO SUCCESSBy Nitin Bhatnagar, Associate Director, PCI Security Standards CouncilHolding a Master's in Cyber Law & Information Security from the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Nitin held the role of Associate VP at SISA Information Security, prior to joining PCI in 2018.IN MY OPINIONNitin Bhatnagar,Associate Director
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