PayNearby in association with the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) on March 6, 2023, released its annual ‘PayNearby Women Financial Index (PWFI)’, an annual Pan-India report showcasing financial consumption by women at retail stores. The report says that over 10,000 women entrepreneurs have dispensed over Rs 900 crore of financial services in FY 2022-23.
The annual report, in its third edition, is based on a Pan-India survey conducted by the company among more than 5,000 retail stores in India, recording financial transactions of women consumers as observed in those outlets.
This study highlighted that over 76% of women who avail of basic banking services at retail stores, prefer Aadhaar-based biometric withdrawal (AePS) to access cash from their accounts. Cash, which dominated the payment space among women in FY 2021-22, continues to hold strong, with around 48% of women saying they preferred dealing in cash. Aadhaar-led transactions and UPI QR too have gained momentum with UPI preferences ranging from 5-20% among different age groups. Cards continue to have minimal presence in this segment.
According to the survey, more than 75% of the retailers mentioned that women within the age group of 18-30 years were the most digitally adept, with over 60% of this age bracket owning a smartphone and accessing digital content through it. This was immediately followed by the age group 31-40 years.
Approximately 78% of women cited cash withdrawal as the primary reason for visiting a retail store for financial transactions. Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500 was the most preferred range of withdrawal for women across the country. Mobile recharges, bill payments and travel booking were the next three popular services availed by women customers at retail touchpoints.
At urban and metro centers, money remittance saw good adoption with transactions being primarily conducted by young working women belonging to the age bracket of 21-30 years and 31-40 years. EMI payments at retail outlets also witnessed decent growth. Though mostly in the range of Rs 500 to Rs 1,000, the growth in EMI collection indicates increased awareness and appetite for credit and other financial products in women across the country.
The report further stated that while more than 74% of women operated their bank accounts themselves, they were primarily for the purpose of cash withdrawals and cash deposits. Interestingly, more than 20% of the women also admitted to their husbands operating their bank accounts instead of themselves.
When asked about their top three saving goals, ‘child education’ topped the list, which was followed by ‘medical emergency’ and ‘buying household electronic items’. There was a growing awareness among women to save for their children’s future with more than 68% of those surveyed citing good education for their kids as a priority for them. Saving for medical emergencies and rainy days stood at 30% with women being aware of future emergencies post the pandemic. 55% of women indicated Rs 500 to Rs 750 as their preferred range for monthly savings. Formal savings instruments though, continue to see thin adoption, with less than 15% of those surveyed aware of formal savings instruments.
Consumption of evolved services such as insurance continues to be low (1%) despite 29% of women being aware about insurance products. The research specified that there was an increased awareness for online entertainment and online commerce, with 16% and 23% of respondents showing willingness to consume these services digitally. Further, the survey indicated that almost 39% of women visiting Kiranas and retail outlets for financial transactions used smartphones and also availed WhatsApp actively. Adoption in cities was as high as 50-60%. Rural Bharat also saw a good adoption, with double-digit adoption almost everywhere in the country.
Another interesting trend that was visible was the leap in travel bookings made by women customers at the retail outlets. 90% of the respondents showed willingness to book a rail ticket from their nearby store, with more than 16% confirming that they have booked one in the last year. Financial identity through PAN card issuance also saw good adoption in this cohort.
Anand Kumar Bajaj, founder, MD and CEO, PayNearby, said, “Women of the country are slowly but steadily gearing up to walk hand-in-hand with India’s growth. At PayNearby, we believe it is our responsibility to bridge the digital divide that exists between segments…We want women to have greater control over their earnings, savings, and other critical elements. For this, we aim to enable form-factor agnostic, simple-to-use platforms at all nearby retail stores, so that our women can take control of their futures and be active partners in the nation’s success story. Sashakt Naari, Sashakt Desh.”
Rajesh Bansal, CEO, RBIH, said, “It is heartening to see that there is an uptake of digital financial products and services among women at the last mile. The PWFI report is an eye-opener and game-changer as it will help us leverage technology and innovation in the right direction.”
