FINDINGS

The findings play a very significant role in a study. The following section presents discussion of
the findings of the research. The findings are as follows-

1) Almost every young urban consumer between the age of 18-33 years have a private bank
account though it is still not clear as to how frequently they use it for transactions,
cashless or otherwise.
2) It is observed that most of them have a smartphone with high quality 2G and 3G net
connection and not just a phone. Further among those owning smartphones, they make
use of it for transferring funds.
3) Most of the respondents are aware of the different modes of cashless payments that are
available to the public at large. Cent percent of them are already aware of the concept of
plastic money. They also possess debit cards issued by various private and public sector
banks. However, prevalence and usage of credit cards among the youth is less as these
cards are mainly owned by business men. Surprisingly, Internet and mobile banking are
more popular than expected amongst the young generation. Digital wallets are the most
popular category in the area of digital modes, owing to its ease and swift access to
different payments. Not only are they aware, but are also using different e-wallets wallets
like paytm the most popular of them, mobikwik, freecharge etc for their financial
transactions.
4) It is also seen that a very significant number of the respondents have heard about the UPI
app launched by NPCI in collaboration with RBI to help India move towards cashless
economy. However, a very negligible segment of the respondents are familiar with the
concept of Text or Bar Codes or USSD owing to its low level of usage. Although Aadhar
enabled Payment system is yet to be launched in all parts of India, Aadhaar card being in
the news for quite sometime has been able to grab attention to its benefits, from the
young urban masses.
5) UPI based e-wallets like Paytm banks, Phone Pe, Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM),
Axis Pay, Google Pay tez etc has surely seen a rise in not only awareness level but also in
its service consumption level and this rise will continue to touch unprecedented levels in
the coming days, since “Go cashless” is a recent initiative still in its infant stage in India.
6) The findings reveal that traditional cash is still the most popular choice of the participants
for their daily transactions like utility bill payments, purchase of consumer durables,
household consumables cab payments etc and therefore an inevitable necessity for every
customer concerned. Although cash dominates the majority of transactions, varied modes
of digital payments are also not lagging behind. Besides cash, net banking and smart
cards are the second most used category of e-payments for conducting both online and
offline transactions. However, especially due to the effect of demonetization and the
sudden high denomination note crunch, use of mobile banking apps have increased was
given a new impetus. UPI apps have still not found their momentum which they had
hoped for. Maybe this is because many secured and popular digital wallets are now
offering UPI facilities too which slows down the customer base for UPI when it comes to
performing daily transactional activities.
7) Coming to virtual wallets, private players are most prominent specially paytm because of
its smooth interface. Other wallets offered by both private and public players like
Freecharge, Mobikwik, SBI buddy, Icici pockets, Payzapp, Ola wallets etc have high
awareness but more or less very moderate to low level of usage amongst the students and
salaried class. The ones who use virtual wallets mostly stick to paytm as it fulfills most of
the user’s requirements. This shows that private players have fared better than public
players in convincing the users about its security, utility and user-friendliness.
8) The popularity of UPI apps is relatively low when compared to digital wallets which
basically aim to solve same problems. And that is why we find that some of the UPI apps
launched by several banks like empower by Canara bank, Axis pay by Axis bank,
immobile by Icici bank, Trupay by Yes bank and many more are yet to find their
existence among the young folk. Another possible reason for such low performance of
such apps except for a few is the probable launch of Wallet cum UPI apps like the Prime
Minister launched Bhim app, UPI app, Phone pe app , Google Pay9Tez) at the same time
that might have somewhat confused the youth of today searching for a solution to their
cash needs.
9) Majority of the student class and working class people have availed of the internet
banking facility offered by their respective banks which is much more secured and easy
to use as compared to digital wallets. They not only use internet banking for making
 various payments but also use other ancillary facilities offered by the same like
requesting for ATM card, generating ATM pin, viewing their Account summary,
statement and profile, requesting for cheque books, updating their KYC information and
many more. However, usage of net banking for applying important loans and freezing of
payments are found to be quite low amongst the respondents. The reason is that they
would like to have a more intimate and personal conservation with the bank personnel for
such important activities so that there are minimal chances of errors and ambiguity.
10) A very minor percentage of who have not applied for net banking facility are still aware
of its major services like fund transfer, online statement of accounts, ATM pin generation
and KYC information update. This implies that the younger generation is much more
active and aware of the internet and technology revolutions. Even though it’s not essential
that they consume every service that internet provides but education has made them more
internet savvy and enthusiasts.
11) The major reason why a section of the respondents are not availing net banking even after
being asked by the banks to do so is because they feel that requirement of net banking
services is not felt mostly by the students. Cash and Plastic cards are sufficient enough
for them to perform their daily monetary transactions like data recharge, cab payment,
purchase of household and durable items etc. And still a very minor segment of the
respondents i.e. less than half are skeptical of the security of their bank personal details
while transacting online as the details are all over the internet vulnerable to hacking.
12) ) It has been pointed out by the participants that most of the third party payment apps like
Paytm, Freecharge, Airtel Money, Mobikwik require the user to transfer money to the app
account from their personal bank account before they can make payments which implies
that they lose bank interest on the amount so transferred. Also there is difficulty in
transferring money between different payment apps. This has created a bottleneck
amongst the young students who are unwilling to download different wallets and that are
why paytm is the most popular among the lot. The use and misuse of credit and debit
cards have created a fear in the minds of the respondents about the risk of using ATM
cards. Hence, despite owning cards, they do not use them frequently for fear of cloning,
theft, fraud etc. Banks charge exorbitant interest on debit card payments and net banking
which dissuade people from making full use of them. For lack of smooth internet data
 connection on Smartphones, some of the respondents are hesitant to carry out high value
digital transactions through their phones.
13) The information about all the transactions, including the amount, time and recipient are
stored in the database of the payment system. And it means the intelligence agency has an
access to this information. Again, when transacting online, personal or account
information and credit card number is exposed over the Internet. This leads to the risk of
the account being hacked. Also, each payment system has its limits regarding the
maximum amount in the account, the number of transactions per day and the amount of
output. All these factors are acting as hurdles for the young generation in going fully
cashless and that is why Cash is still the”king” of all transactions.
14) Although there are drawbacks of digitally conducted transactions, the respondents have
also opined that much of the precautions and safety measures have been adopted by the
service providers in minimizing the effects of such drawbacks. Hence, despite of such
drawbacks, prevalent of digital services are still on the rising.
15) The participants have voted that cashless digital transactions help save their time for
instance, instead of going out for mobile/data recharge, going to the bank for clearing
cheques, for payment of utility bills etc, they can stay at home and make payments. This
also limits the risk of carrying around hefty amount of cash with them daily. There is no
risk of theft or loss of money notes when sales and purchases are all done through digital
mode. Usually every service is designed to reach the widest possible audience, so it has
the intuitively understandable user interface. In addition, there is always the opportunity
to submit a question to a support team, which often works 24/7. They mentioned that all
the digital transfers can be performed at anytime, anywhere which make them prefer such
payment more than cash in several cases. Digital transactions leave an e-print and this
helps reduce any legal risks of undertaking commercial transactions with strangers. Court
cases, litigation can be avoided along with tax hassles. Furthermore, a ready record of
expenses and is available for which can be traced and cross checked quickly. This shows
that the young lot perceives digital transactions to be more convenient and beneficial.
16) The Government has made great endeavours in promoting e-governance. An attempt was
made to capture the attitude and perception of the young generation about the initiatives
introduced under e-governance. Majority of the respondents are conscious of
 Government’s effort of creating a paperless environment especially e-challan, e-passport
and e- railway tickets. Surprisingly, the youth seems to be unaware of e-budgets and e-
cabinet meetings even after Assam delivered its first e-budget in a digital tablet in the
year 2016 itself. Also, e-tender, e-filing of returns, e-biz portal conducive for business
procedures, e-lockers etc seem like a long lost concept amongst the younger generation.
17) It is being observed that most of the respondents are very positive about Government’s
decision of digitizing social security schemes like pension fund, Public Distribution
System as well as business application procedures will have a significant positive impact
on the society and the emerging first generation of entrepreneurs.
18) Aadhaar card being an identification mark unique to every individual based on their
biometrics has created quite controversies in the recent times. Still majority of the
participants believe that fund transfer via Aadhaar card will be acceptable amongst the
general masses owing to no service charge, no involvement of PINs and Passwords and
no fear of loss or theft of smart cards.
19) This study also aimed to have an idea about how much the young consumers were aware
of the recently initiated “Digital Assam” mission. While almost all of the respondents had
faith in this forward thinking step of the Government that it will transform Assam along
with India into a digitally empowered and social hub, a negligible few believes that when
the maximum population of the state starts doing things digitally, only then it can be said
“Digital Assam”.
20) Public internet access is the first priority in implementing “Digital Assam”. Almost
everybody in the survey approved the fact that without access to internet connectivity,
people will not be able to understand the true intention behind launching digital payments
schemes. Secondly, incentives must be present to adapt people to use government portals
for public utility services. Private mobile companies have made mobile penetration
possible across the state but responsibility of digital literacy lies with the Government.
Broadband and Information highway along with IT services need to be more accessible to
public.
21) People are open to the idea of embracing technology for their transactions though they are yet
to fully explore all the possibilities available to them. They would also recommend others to go
fully cashless because of their additional benefits.