Digital Payments / Cybercurrency

A digital payment occurs when goods or services are purchased through the use of various electronic media. There is no utilisation of cash or cheques in this type of payment method. All the transactions in digital payments are completed online. The main objectives of digital transactions are to reduce the costs and risks of handling cash and to increase the ease of conducting transactions.

Digital payments across the country registered a growth of 29% in a year through March 2022, as per the latest index that measures the adoption of online transactions. The newly constituted RBI’s Digital Payment Index (RBI-DPI) has demonstrated significant growth, representing the rapid adoption and deepening of digital payments across the country.

Types of Digital Payments:

Banking cards	USSD(Unstructured Supplementary Service Data
Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS)	UPI (Unified Payments Interface )
Mobile Wallets	Bank pre-paid cards
Point of Sale (PoS)	Internet Banking
Mobile Banking	Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app

Cryptocurrency is a type of digital currency that uses cryptography for security and anti-counterfeiting measures. Public and private keys are often used to transfer cryptocurrency between individuals. Major cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin cash and EOS.

The coming decade could see introduction of new currencies — more cryptocurrencies backed by sovereign governments. And even private currencies, like Facebook’s Libra.

Central banks will have to adjust to ideas of new kinds of payment instruments, which are not under their control. The 2020s may see new currencies, owned by private corporations.