NDTV & Mastercard launch “Cashless Bano India” to encourage adoption of digital payments

Keeping in sync with Government of India’s vision of cashless India, NDTV and Mastercard joined hands to launch the Cashless Bano India movement. The campaign aims at accelerating the adoption of digital forms of payments through an on-ground and TV campaign that will educate the masses about digital payment solutions and encourage its usage for everyday spends. This campaign will work with partners in driving behavioral change and spread awareness on the importance of digital payments to millions across the country.

The campaign was launched through a high decibel panel discussion focusing on the need for a robust digital payments ecosystem in the country. Cashless Bano India would also extend to Tier-II and Tier-III cities through on-ground educative sessions aimed at reaching public-at-large as well as merchants with the support of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

The panel discussion was attended by Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Aayog; Mr. Ari Sarker, Co-President, Asia Pacific at ‎Mastercard; Mr. Praveen Khandelwal, General Secretary, CAIT; Dr. Arvind Virmani, Sr. Fellow, Brookings & Former Chief Economic Adviser, Govt. of India and Former Executive Director, IMF; Mr. Rajeev Anand – Executive Director at Axis Bank & Mr. Sunil Mehta, MD and CEO, Punjab National Bank and moderated by Vikram Chandra, Consulting Editor at NDTV.

Speaking on the initiative, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog said, “The Government has been aggressively driving Sthe push to a less-cash society, bringing a number of policy reforms and initiatives. The vision is to make India lead the world in the evolution of payment systems with technology paving the way. Initiatives like Cashless Bano India will further propel the efforts in bringing a behavioral change towards digital payments and further help in the penetration of digital payments to the last mile.”

“With digitization becoming a part of our life in more ways than one, cashless payments are the future of our country. While the benefits of digital payments to the nation and to individuals are obvious, many roadblocks to speedy implementation still remain. This brain storming session with all stakeholders including the government, bankers, traders and the aam aadmi hopes to charter a blueprint for secure and simple cashless transactions to help build a better India”, said Vikram Chandra, Consulting Editor at NDTV.

“The digital payments industry in India is at an inflection point. Enablers like Jan-Dhan, Aadhaar, mobile penetration, and more recently demonetization have created a strong foundation for large scale adoption of digital payment systems in India. This is a long term story, which will require a combination of infrastructure, sleek user experience with highest standards of safety and security, last mile distribution and reach, together with the right policy initiatives, and significant marketing and communications efforts to build awareness on the benefits of a digital economy”, said Ari Sarker, Co-President, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. "Through our collaboration with like-minded partners like NDTV, we want to do our bit to realize the vision of a cashless India.”

The panel discussion ended with Amitabh Kant, Vikram Chandra and Ari Sarker flagging off a bus, scheduled to travel across the five cities of Kanpur, Jaipur, Surat, Indore and Nagpur. This would be an extended on-ground activation of the campaign, whereby financial literacy and adoption camps would be conducted at the respective cities for traders and merchants.