payment gateways

Top 10 Digital Wallets In India & UPI Payment App – 2021 Edition

  • Krithika Ramani
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  • 22 January , 2021
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    • 6 min read

As shopping patterns continue to evolve thanks to Covid 19, even mobile and digital wallets in India small-time have evolved with it. With UPI making payments seamless, mobile wallets and digital payment apps have been surpassing credit card usage and are slowly beginning to replace the traditional payment methods.

A mobile wallet or digital wallet, in simple terms, is a virtual mobile-based wallet where one can store cash for making mobile, online or offline payments. There are various types of mobile wallets in India, such as open, semi-open, semi-closed and closed - depending on the type of usage and payments that can be made. Wallets are growing rapidly as they help in increasing the speed of transaction, especially for e-commerce companies and all e-commerce marketplaces have integrated with such mobile wallets too. With the launch of UPI, it has become even easier, as the transfer happens directly from the bank account rather than from a wallet.

Here are some of the top 10 digital wallet and the top online payments apps in India and what they offer to their customers. Our top pick is Google Pay, which is also the No.1 digital wallet and UPI payment app right now

1. Google Pay (formerly known as Tez)

As its part of the Google ecosystem, they have scaled up their user base quickly, despite being a late entrant. It is currently the No.1 digital wallet and one of the top online payments apps in India. With Google Pay you can send money to friends, pay bills and buy online, recharge your phone - all via UPI and directly from your bank account. Since Google Pay works with your existing bank account, which means your money is safe with your bank. There's no need to worry about reloading wallets and you don't need to do additional KYC - which is required for all the other apps. You can also earn scratch cards and other rewards, with the cashback directly being transferred into your bank account. Now you can also recharge your mobile or monthly utility bills. Since the introduction of UPI, wallets have become passé with users preferring account to account transfer via UPI.

Number of installs: 100,000,000+ (100 Million or 10 crore) on Android Play Store

2. PhonePe (earlier part of Flipkart)

Next in the list of top online payment apps in India is PhonePe. PhonePe started in 2015 and in just 4 years it has been able to cross the 100 million download mark. From UPI payments to recharges, money transfers to online bill payments, you can do it all on PhonePe. Its got a very good user interface and is one of the safest and fastest online payment experience in India.

Number of installs: 100,000,000+ (100 Million or 10 crore) on Android Play Store

3. Dhani

Dhani App is part of the Indiabulls group and has multiple features. It is not only a regular e-wallet app but it can also be combined with Dhani SuperSaver Card. Dhani also has a reward & loyalty program for Dhani customers wherein customers can play games and win cash to pay for mobile recharge, EMI payments, Insurance, and also for new Dhani products. This can be combined with Dhani Super Saver Rupay (physical and virtual card) which has assured 5% cashback on all purchases done via the card and its completely free for the first month.

Number of installs: 20,000,000+ (20 Million or 2 crores) on Android Play Store and iOS

4. BHIM Axis Pay

BHIM Axis Pay is a UPI banking app that lets you transfer money instantly to anyone using just your smartphone. Make online recharges to your prepaid mobile and DTH set-top boxes directly from the app.

Number of installs: 1,000,000+ (1 Million or 0.1 crore) on Android Play Store

5. PayTM

PayTM is one of the largest mobile commerce platforms and one of the top online payments apps in India, offering its customers a digital wallet to store money and make quick payments. Launched in 2010, this e-wallet app works on a semi-closed model and has a mobile market, where a customer can load money and make payments to merchants who have operational tie-ups with the company. It was originally the No.1 digital wallet in India before UPI being introduced. Apart from making e-commerce transactions, this e-wallet app can also be used to make bill payments, transfer money and avail services from merchants from travel, entertainment and retail industry. They also have UPI enabled payments now.

Number of installs: 100 Million (or 10 crores) on Android Play Store.

6. Mobikwik

MobiKwik is an independent mobile payment network that supposedly connects 25 million users with 50,000 retailers and more. This e-wallet app lets its users add money using debit, credit card, net banking and even doorstep cash collection service, which can, in turn, be used to recharge, pay utility bills and shop at marketplaces. Owing to the growing need for convenience, MobiKwik has also recently tied up with large and small-time grocery, restaurants and other offline merchants.

Another unique feature they have is their expense tracker which allows setting budget for your expenses across all payment instruments and it uses your SMS data to analyse and control spends. No wonder it made to the list of top online payment apps in India.

Number of installs: 10,000,000+ (10 Million or 1 crore) on Android Play Store

7. Yono by SBI

This mobile wallet application was launched by State Bank of India to let users transfer money to other users and bank accounts, pay bills, recharge, book for movies, hotels, shopping as well as travel. This semi-closed prepaid wallet offers its services in 13 languages and is available for non-SBI customers as well. This app also allows its customers to set reminders for dues, money transfers and view the mini-statement for the transactions carried out.

Number of installs: 10,000,000+ (10 Million or 1 crore) on Android Play Store

8. ICICI Pockets

Pockets by ICICI is a digital bank that offers a mobile wallet for its customers. It provides the convenience of using any bank account in India to fund your mobile wallet and pay for transactions.

With Pockets, one can transfer money, recharge, book tickets, send gifts and split expenses with friends. This wallet uses a virtual VISA card that enables its users to transact on any website or mobile application in India and provides exclusive deals or packages from associated brands.

Number of installs: 5,000,000+ (5 Million or 0.5 crore) on Android Play Store

9. HDFC PayZapp

PayZapp is a complete payment solution giving you the power to pay in just One Click. PayZapp lets you recharge your mobile, DTH and data card, pay utility bills, compare and book flight tickets, bus and hotels, shop, buy movie tickets, music and groceries, avail great offers at SmartBuy, and send money to anyone in your phone book.

Number of installs: 10,000,000+ (10 Million or 1 crore) on Android Play Store

10. Amazon Pay

Amazon Pay is an online payments processing service that is owned by Amazon. It is also a top online payment app in India and the global market. Launched in 2007 globally and India in 2017, Amazon Pay uses the consumer base of Amazon and focuses on giving users the option to pay with their Amazon accounts on external merchant websites, including apps like BigBazaar etc. You also get to shop on Amazon using Amazon Pay. Amazon Pay has also tied up with fintech companies such as ZestMoney to enable no-cost EMI payment options on its platform. This makes it easy for consumers to purchase products on Amazon and pay for it through affordable monthly instalments.

Number of installs: Undisclosed

Data on digital payments in India

And here are some interesting findings on digital payment adoption from the recent ACI Survey:

While these numbers indicate the growing need for secure, faster and efficient payment methods for the online marketplace, efforts to make payments to an individual or brick & mortar stores are also increasing. Start-ups and huge corporates are constantly on the lookout for customer-friendly technology, thereby giving more power to the customer.

Need a few financial tips to handle your money wisely? Follow our YouTube channel Paisa Pujari for more insights. Here's a video to help you understand the smart ways to use a credit card:

Thus, the day you will walk around without a physical wallet and pay your local dhobi and Kirana store uncle using a mobile wallet is not so far. Do you use any of these e-wallets apps? Have we missed out on any information in this list of top online payment apps in India? Write to us in the 'Comments' section below.


The Last Barrier: the e-commerce cart abandonment

  • Abhishek Kumar
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  • 16 May , 2013
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    • 3 min read

Cart abandonment has proved to be one of the major pitfalls of ecommerce companies in India over their brick-and-mortar counterparts because there is no stigma attached to dropping your basket at the cash counter in online retail. In a physical store, though there is no one stopping us from dropping the shopping cart at the cash counter but the associated embarrassment or stigma is enough to prevent us from doing that.

In case of window-shopping, abandonment rate is not necessarily an indicator of success/failures of an ecommerce website. The aim may be to just browse through, compare and check out different offerings of various sites. There is very high probability that such customers are going to abandon the basket. Then, it becomes very essential to develop proper metrics for analyzing the behavior and predict personalized offers / deals to attract those customers, through retargeting platforms like Google & Adroll.

Firstly, there has to be an acknowledgement of the fact that a particular basket has been dropped. Generally as an online retailer, we might be tempted to consider an abandoned basket as a case of delayed purchase. That may be a highly optimistic assumption that disregards this fact- there could have been a cheaper deal he/she may have got from a competitor. But it is not the case every time. There has been a fair number of conversions if the visitor has returned to buy the product within a short period. So, we need to consider a timeframe to allow the time for comparison of parameters but post that period, we may take certain steps to push our product.

Retargeting in combination with Email and Sms marketing to retarget the cart droppers via incremental offers & deals can make huge difference; but look out for dupers who deliberately drop the basket to get deals; may go for a cap provision like at max 2 deals every 3 months.

Reasons for Cart Abandonment

Lets look at some of the most prominent reasons that may result in high number of basket abandonments, especially from an Indian context:

  • Hidden charges like high shipping costs: One-off such incident on a website for the visitor himself/his friend for the matter, creates suspicion every single time he plans to purchase a product on the website. The costs of having hidden charges is much more than its worth. This could also be in the form of Cash on Delivery charges.
  • Concerns about payment security: Indian market is a nascet ecommerce market; so it is something that would take time to develop as far as the entire market is concerned. But as an ecommerce player, few steps like providing details like guaranteed delivery date, expedited delivery services and greater variety of payment channels. The website can also focus on more visibility to security logos and authentications for payment transaction. In a growing market like India, Cash-on-delivery seems to be a great way to draw buyers towards online purchases, though it may hit the bottom line.
  • Forced registration: Having long, multiple-page registration forms is one of the biggest culprits responsible for abandonment of the basket. Instead, we recommend single page checkout for our clients, followed by the secure payment gateway.
  • Technical problems like slow website response / mobile incompatibility: If any ecommerce company has not heeded required attention on this aspect of this website, no matter how good is the look-and-feel of the website, it still does not make sense if the visitor is going to require ages to complete the process. Quick website response and mobile & tablet responsive websites are a must in the age of iPad and smartphone. Though the % of transactions via mobile/tablet is perhaps less than 5% but increasingly consumers are using tablets to complete their transactions.

Last but not the least, retarget the abandoners quickly as they are more likely to buy than first timers. But there is a need to not overdo it. Analyze the consumers purchase profile to trace any attempts of deliberate abandonment due to the probability of getting a better offer next time.

You can also read our Ecommerce Case Study.

More to follow in the coming days on Retargetting and techniques for digital advertising in India.


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