Independent Research and Policy Advocacy

From Digital Payments to Financial Inclusion: The Challenges Ahead

Digital payments are currently being envisioned as a gateway to financial inclusion for the poor and marginalised in India. In this article, Indradeep Ghosh, Executive Director, Dvara Research, examines the rationale for such a vision. He argues that the penetration of digital payments remains low for the poor and marginalised, partly because of unfavourable economics and partly because digital payments interfaces are not well designed to suit this segment. If India can overcome these two hurdles, then digital payments can indeed become more common among the poor and marginalised, and thereby catalyse much wider and deeper financial inclusion in India than has hitherto been possible.

Report: The costs of using Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) products

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) products have become one of the popular modes for customers to finance their retail purchases. BNPL products are being postured as challengers to credit cards that can make credit more accessible to customers at little to no cost.

Towards designing UPI services for constrained users

This blog post summarises literature regarding users who are most likely to face difficulties in using digital payments, and some design principles and best practices that could simplify digital payment interfaces.

Comments to the Reserve Bank of India on the Report of the Working Group on Digital Lending including Lending through Online Platforms and Mobile Apps

In this blog post, we present our comments to the Report of the Working Group on Digital Lending including Lending through Online Platforms and Mobile Apps, November 2021 (the Report) in response to the call for comments from all stakeholders by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Our response is accessible here. We appreciate the Report’s multi-dimensional approach […]