Hyderabad: People living in urban areas too doubt card deals
As per official estimates, only nine per cent of total transactions is being done in cashless mode in the state.
Hyderabad: The volume of cashless transactions is no better in urban areas despite the availability of banks and ATMs. As per official estimates, only nine per cent of total transactions is being done in cashless mode in the state, that too only in Hyderabad and Tier-II cities like Warangal, Nizamabad, Karimnagar etc.
ATM cards are used only to withdraw cash by a majority of the population but not to make payments. Nearly half the population of Telangana lives in urban areas. The state government now wants to make urban areas cashless first before focusing on rural areas.
Banking expert K. Narasimha Murthy said, “The mindset of people in the country needs to be changed over digital cash transactions. Leave alone rural areas, there is a misconception among a majo-rity of the urban classes that digital transactions are not secure. Therefore, the focus should be on converting urban areas into cashless transaction societies first before going for rural areas.”
Debit cards entered the state in 1998 and they currently account for 90 per cent of total number of cards in circulation. Though credit cards entered the market five years prior to debit cards, their growth rate is much lower with banks imposing several restrictions on issuing them. Out of 70 crore debit cards and 24 crore credit cards issued in India, Telangana acco-unts for nine per cent.