NewsMail TodayE-wallets lose edge as losses mount
- Vidya S
- New Delhi
- March 19, 2018
- UPDATED 05:43 IST
- HIGHLIGHTS
- KYC requirements taking a toll on mobile wallets.
- Players have to diversify to stay viable, say experts.
- Demonetisation brought a surge in mobile wallet users.
Mobile wallets continue to pile up losses and will not survive as standalone instruments going ahead even if digital payments go up further, unless they diversify their business model, according to experts.
The recent RBI norms that require all prepaid instruments, including wallets, to get their users to complete mandatory (Know Your Customer) KYC requirements, and the Supreme Court verdict deferring linking of Aadhaar to various services are adding to their misery by bringing down the number of transactions.
This has come at a time when banks have also been given access to UPI transactions and, therefore, pose a threat.
"When you compare a current mobile wallet with, maybe, a savings account, the KYCs requirements are the same. Why would you need a mobile wallet, when a savings account can accomplish the same for you? Customers may be willing to give their KYC if your wallet or prepaid card has a very strong use case, but not otherwise," said Dewang Narella, MD and CEO of Atom Technologies, a back-end payments processing firm.
RBI norms have made it mandatory for users to complete at least eKYC using Aadhaar or PAN details to add money to their wallets from March 1.