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What about smartphone powered payments?

by norswap 10y ago

detaro 10y ago
What about them?
happy-go-lucky 10y ago
Paytm? https://paytm.com/ https://paytm.com/
Navarr 10y ago
http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/12/21/506330351/india-wants-to-go-cashless-but-its-easier-said-than-done http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/12/21/50633035...
dogma1138 10y ago
Local smartphone based payments usually require a local bank account or a debit card; they often do not work with credit at all since they can't hussle commissions nor want to onboard the risk of dealing chargebacks or fund clearance. Local smartphone based payments also require infrastructure which is not always available in india, power and connectivity can be very spotty even worse than some places in Africa. Also with most of these micro payment services they don't really use new tech, a lot of the time it's still based on SMS and is rather insecure and prawn to fraud. You aren't going to be issuing smartphones with NFC and fingerprint readers and the terminals needed to accept such payments in impoverished regions. Anything like Google/Apple pay and you need a bank account which many of those peoples don't have or don't want to have/use, and the Government is unlikely to like a secondary economy like in some African countries which is based on cash bought prepaid call minutes which are then used as currency.
- norswap 10y ago
  I'm confused. Isn't getting cash a problem only if you have a bank account?
  - dogma1138 10y ago
    The problem is that the cash was traded effectively outside of the economic system. In most countries Cash passes through banks or clearinghouses after a transaction is completed. Your employer pays you with a cheque or a bank transfer; you take out cash from the ATM; you buy groceries with that Cash; The store deposits the Cash at a bank or a clearinghouse and receives a cheque or has it's account debited. In this chain the majority of transactions; even cash transactions are "on paper", the problem with India is that people effectively trade with Cash without involving the banks; you get paid in cash (w/ no taxes paid); you buy something from the local grocer w/ cash w/o any recepiet; the local grocer pays their suppliers with cash again often w/o any receipts; pays their employees with cash and so on and on. This means that the majority of the transactions are in effect conducted in grey or black markets.

What about smartphone powered payments?

by norswap 10y ago

What about smartphone powered payments?

detaro 10y ago

What about them?

happy-go-lucky 10y ago

Paytm? https://paytm.com/ https://paytm.com/

Navarr 10y ago

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/12/21/506330351/india-wants-to-go-cashless-but-its-easier-said-than-done http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/12/21/50633035...

dogma1138 10y ago

Local smartphone based payments usually require a local bank account or a debit card; they often do not work with credit at all since they can't hussle commissions nor want to onboard the risk of dealing chargebacks or fund clearance. Local smartphone based payments also require infrastructure which is not always available in india, power and connectivity can be very spotty even worse than some places in Africa. Also with most of these micro payment services they don't really use new tech, a lot of the time it's still based on SMS and is rather insecure and prawn to fraud. You aren't going to be issuing smartphones with NFC and fingerprint readers and the terminals needed to accept such payments in impoverished regions. Anything like Google/Apple pay and you need a bank account which many of those peoples don't have or don't want to have/use, and the Government is unlikely to like a secondary economy like in some African countries which is based on cash bought prepaid call minutes which are then used as currency.

norswap 10y ago
I'm confused. Isn't getting cash a problem only if you have a bank account?
- dogma1138 10y ago
  The problem is that the cash was traded effectively outside of the economic system. In most countries Cash passes through banks or clearinghouses after a transaction is completed. Your employer pays you with a cheque or a bank transfer; you take out cash from the ATM; you buy groceries with that Cash; The store deposits the Cash at a bank or a clearinghouse and receives a cheque or has it's account debited. In this chain the majority of transactions; even cash transactions are "on paper", the problem with India is that people effectively trade with Cash without involving the banks; you get paid in cash (w/ no taxes paid); you buy something from the local grocer w/ cash w/o any recepiet; the local grocer pays their suppliers with cash again often w/o any receipts; pays their employees with cash and so on and on. This means that the majority of the transactions are in effect conducted in grey or black markets.