Indians sign up for mobile wallets after most cash rendered useless

Indians have avoided digital transactions for decades, but this week they are increasingly looking at cashless solutions.

In the aftermath of withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination currency notes earlier this week, people are increasingly downloading and using mobile wallet apps such as Paytm, Ola Money, and Freecharge, the companies say. Most of them took the opportunity to advertise their solutions with full-page advertisements in national dailies.

Ola Money said Wednesday it saw a 1,500 percent increase in wallet recharges (adding money from a bank account to the digital wallet). Paytm said it saw a 435 percent upward spike in traffic as "millions" of people used its app. It also saw 200 percent increase in app download numbers, and 250 percent surge in overall transactions and transaction value. Read more...