In an era of free money transfers, here's how India's banks will remain indispensable

A digital economy requires digital payments. While this is true everywhere, India stands out as a world-class example for having developed the account-based payments infrastructure to ensure as many people as possible have access to instant, easy payments directly from their bank account. All they need is a mobile phone.

The numbers speak for themselves. In the month of August 2022, India’s UPI payment system recorded 658 crore (6.58 billion) transactions, amounting to INR 10.7 lakh crore1, or close to USD 13.3 billion. While this rapid surge is creating new imperatives for businesses like banks that traditionally depended on transaction fees,