5 widely used e-wallets and payment apps in India

By Leandra Monteiro

India is slowly but surely paving its way to a cashless society. The rise in digitalisation, modern technology and the easy availability of mobile devices has transformed the way the payment gateway industry is growing. This has given rise to a number of mobile wallets or e-wallets. There are various types of mobile wallets in India, such as open, semi-open, semi-closed and closed – depending on the type of usage and payments that can be made.

The use of e-wallets are growing rapidly as they help in increasing the speed of transaction, for e-commerce companies and all online marketplaces have integrated with such mobile wallets to make transactions seamless. With the launch of UPI, it has become even easier, as the transfer happens directly from the bank account rather than from a wallet. Here are 3 e-wallets that are making waves in the Indian industry:

Amazon Pay: Amazon Pay is a top online payments processing service that is owned by Amazon in India and the global market. Launched in 2007 globally and India in 2017, Amazon Pay uses the consumer base of Amazon and focuses on giving users the option to pay with their Amazon accounts on external merchant websites and apps.

Users can also shop on Amazon using Amazon Pay. Additionally, Amazon Pay has also tied up with FinTech companies such as ZestMoney to enable no-cost EMI payment options on its platform. This makes it easy for consumers to purchase products on Amazon and pay for it through easy monthly instalments.

BHIM: Bharat Interface for Money is a most popular mobile payment App based on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and supports all Indian banks on all mobile devices. It is a mobile wallet app developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

Launched in 2016, users can link multiple bank accounts in the BHIM app and choose the one that will receive the payments which is then directly credited to the linked bank account. Users can also request money through the app.

Google Pay: Despite being late to the scene, Google has scaled up its user base quickly. It is currently among the most used e-wallets and one of the top online payments apps in India. With Google Pay one can send money to friends, pay bills and buy online, recharge your phone – all via UPI and directly from the users bank account.

Since Google Pay works with your existing bank account, its means the users money is safe in their bank account and is debited or credited directly from the account. There’s no need to worry about reloading wallets and no need for additional KYC.

Paytm: Paytm is arguably the most popular e-commerce website and mobile wallet in India. Paytm is offers its customers a digital wallet to store money and do instant mobile recharges, bill payments, data cards, recharge and utility bill payments.

Launched in 2010, this e-wallet works on a semi-closed model and has a mobile market, where a customer can add money in the app and make payments to merchants who have active tie-ups with the company.

PhonePe: Another e-wallet that makes the top online payment apps in India is PhonePe. Started in 2015, PhonePe has in just 4 years been able to cross the 100 million download mark. From UPI payments to recharges, money transfers to online bill payments, users can do it all on PhonePe. Users claims the app has got a very good user interface and is one of the safest and fastest online payment experience in India.

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