Alternative payments have moved mainstream in India amid Covid-19, according to GlobalData.

Payment platforms such as mobile and digital wallets have gained popularity among online shoppers, gradually replacing traditional payments during the pandemic.

“The adoption of alternative payments has been on the rise since demonetisation in 2016,” said Ravi Sharma, lead banking and payments analyst at GlobalData. “The recent Covid-19 outbreak has further accelerated the usage of alternative payments as consumers are increasingly using electronic payments to avoid exposing themselves to disease vectors while merchants are also insisting on the digital mode of payments.”

GlobalData’s 2020 Banking & Payments Survey found that the share of alternative payments in online transactions in India stands at 54 per cent this year, followed by payment cards and cash, which accounted for 30.1 per cent and 8.1 per cent, respectively.

Google Pay has been one of the beneficiaries with 9.3 per cent share in the e-commerce payments, a significant surge from 3.5 per cent share last year.

“While alternative payment tools were initially available for online payments, they are now being used for in-store payments as well,” Sharma said.

“With merchants increasingly opting for QR code-based payments due to their cost-effectiveness, alternative payments will disrupt the country’s overall consumer payments space in a big way.”