Title: COVID-19 crisis – an opportunity for mainstreaming digital financial transactions

Authors: Kamakhya Narain Singh; Shruti Malik

Addresses: Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, IMT Manesar, Distt. Gurgaon, Haryana, 122052, India ' Department of Management Studies, JCBOSE University of Science and Technology, YMCA, Faridabad, Haryana, 121006, India

Abstract: Digital financial transactions, in comparison to in-cash transactions, provide an efficient and time saving option. Considering the significance of digital financial transactions in the present scenario of the COVID-19 crisis, this study has twin objectives: firstly, to examine the use of digital financial transactions in COVID-19 and secondly, to explore the existence of any relationship between financial literacy and the use of digital financial transactions, especially by low-income groups in India. This study uses secondary data from authorised and government sources for the analysis of the research objectives. Logistic regression model was deployed on National Centre for Financial Education (NCFE) (2019) survey data of around 36,600 low-income group to interpret the relationship between financial literacy and digital financial transactions. The analysis of the data suggested that financial literacy was significant in positively affecting digital financial transactions. In this regard, financial literacy could play an instrumental role, which is also being indicated through our estimated results.

Keywords: financial literacy; digital financial transaction; digital payment; Aadhaar enabled payment system; AEPS; APBS; Unified Payment Interfaces; UPI; financial education; financial behaviour.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEF.2022.124479

International Journal of Electronic Finance, 2022 Vol.11 No.3, pp.269 - 290

Received: 20 Dec 2020
Accepted: 10 Feb 2022
Published online: 27 Jul 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article