India's futile attempt to go cashless is a reality check for our dream epayments future

One thing that's become evident from India’s surprise move to invalidate its most circulated currency bills is just how utterly unready the country is for epayments.

Hundreds of millions of Indians are queuing outside banks and automatic teller machines with dim hopes of actually getting some cash. There isn't enough of it, they know, but no better alternatives are there for them. 

Though epayments solutions, especially mobile wallets such as Paytm and Freecharge have existed in India for a while — and are seeing a booming growth in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement last Tuesday to fight corruption by invalidating the most widely circulated currency bills in the country — Indians are learning it the hard way that epayments are currently a very poor substitute for cash. Read more...