India Prepaid Card and Digital Wallet Business and Investment Opportunities Databook - Market Size and Forecast, Consumer Attitude & Behaviour, Retail Spend - Q1 2024 Update

According to the publisher, the prepaid card market (value terms) in India increased at a CAGR of 18.4% during 2019-2023. Over the forecast period of 2024 to 2028, the market is expected to record a CAGR of 29.7%, increasing from US$35.69 billion in 2023 to reach US$134.59 billion by 2028.

The prepaid card market continued to record strong growth in 2023, on the back of rising UPI adoption, and the trend is projected to continue further over the medium term. Improved digital payment infrastructure, coupled with higher smartphone penetration, has aided the adoption of prepaid payment instruments such as digital wallets and prepaid cards over the last few years.

In 2024, the publisher expects adoption to grow further, especially in Tier II cities and beyond. Businesses, as a result, are projected to launch new prepaid card products over the medium term. This will aid the competitive landscape in the Indian prepaid card industry in 2024. Overall, the publisher maintains a positive growth outlook for the prepaid card industry in India over the next three to four years.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) continues to lead prepaid card industry growth in the Indian market

UPI transactions, in January 2024, set a new high reaching INR 18.41 trillion, showing a slight increase of 1% from the previous month's INR 18.23 trillion. The number of transactions also saw a 1.5% rise, reaching 12.20 billion compared to October's 12.02 billion.

• To provide some context, on the consistent growth achieved by UPI, the transaction value was INR 17.4 trillion, with 11.4 billion transactions in November 2023. Data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) reveals that January's figures represent a 52% increase in volume and a 42% increase in value compared to the same month in the previous financial year.

The government has been pushing for the growing adoption of UPI. The Reserve Bank of India, in September 2022, introduced UPI Lite enabling consumers to make low-value digital payments without utilizing a remitter bank’s core banking systems in real-time. In the Interim Budget 2024-25, the government allocated INR 14.41 billion for the promotion of RuPay debit cards and low-value UPI transactions. The scheme has been launched to offer financial rewards to banks that encourage the use of RuPay debit cards for Point-of-Sale (PoS) and e-commerce transactions. Additionally, it aimed to promote low-value BHIM-UPI transactions (P2M) amounting to Rs 2,000 or less. Although the allocation is significantly less compared to last fiscal year, the scheme is expected to further deepen the digital payment ecosystem in India over the medium term.

New prepaid card product launches will further drive the competitive landscape in India in 2024

With the adoption of prepaid payment instruments on the surge among consumers across age groups, businesses are launching new prepaid card products increasingly to tap into the growing industry.

• The State Bank of India, in September 2023, launched the RuPay NCMC Prepaid Card to simplify digital payments for metro, bus, water ferry fares, parking, and more, all with a single card. Moreover, people can also utilize the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) for payments in retail stores and e-commerce purchases.
• Anq, in January 2024, launched a prepaid reward card called the X card, which is supported by RuPay. This card is developed to encourage responsible financial habits, allowing users to make purchases within their budget while earning rewards such as Digital Gold and digital assets for every transaction. The X card comes with a chip for added security and supports contactless payments across India.

The publisher expects more such new-age businesses and traditional banking institutions to launch prepaid card products in the Indian market. This will continue to aid the competitive landscape and market growth over the medium term.

Prepaid payment instrument providers are banking on diversification to aid revenue growth in India

Although digital payments have continued to grow over the last five years and the trend is projected to keep up over the medium term, the competitive landscape is also growing rapidly, making it difficult for businesses to achieve a strong growth rate in the sector. Furthermore, RBI is seeking to cap UPI transaction volume for digital wallets like PhonePe and Google Pay. As a result, prepaid payment instrument providers such as PhonePe are banking on diversification to aid revenue growth.

• PhonePe, for instance, has been expanding its presence in different business verticals including in sectors like lending and insurance. The firm, in January 2024, revealed that it had sold 9 million insurance policies over the last two years. PhonePe has attributed the growth to its strategic partnerships with insurance firms and customized offerings for its customers.

PhonePe, in 2024, is also set to launch consumer lending products. This is part of the firm’s strategy to tap into the growing credit demand in the Indian market. From the short to medium-term perspective, the publisher expects more digital wallets to diversify their offerings to aid revenue growth.

This report provides a detailed data centric analysis of prepaid payment instruments, covering spend through prepaid cards and digital wallets across retail and corporate consumer segments. In addition, it provides a snapshot of consumer behaviour and retail spend dynamics in India. With over 100 KPIs at country level, this report provides comprehensive understanding of prepaid card and digital wallet card market dynamics.

• Market dynamics: Provides a comprehensive view on size and structure, industry dynamics, market trends, consumer attitude and behaviour, and competitive landscape in prepaid card and digital wallet industry.
• Digital wallet segments: Provides value, volume and average value per transaction across 5 key spend categories in digital wallet. This includes retail, travel, entertainment and gaming, restaurant, and recharge and bill payment.
• Open loop and closed loop prepaid cards: market estimates and forecasts to assess opportunities 12 open loop and closed loop prepaid market segments. Details four essential KPIs - number of cards in circulation, number of transactions, load value, and value of transactions.
• Virtual Prepaid Cards: Provides transaction value analysis across 12 key prepaid card catergories for Virtual Prepaid Cards.
• Detailed Market Share Analysis by Key Players in the Prepaid Card Market.
• Consumer attitude and behaviour: Drawing from proprietary survey results, this report identifies and interprets key prepaid KPIs, including spend by age, gender, and income level.
• Retail spend: Breaks down retail spend across 11 categories to provide detailed insights on consumer behaviour and changing dynamics of prepaid card spend.

Scope

This report provides a detailed data centric analysis of prepaid payment instruments, covering spend through prepaid cards and digital wallets across retail and corporate consumer segments. In addition, it provides a snapshot of consumer behaviour and retail spend dynamics in India. With over 100 KPIs at country level, this report provides comprehensive understanding of prepaid card and digital wallet card market dynamics.

India Prepaid Payment Instrument Market Size and Forecast

• Transaction Value Trend Analysis
• Transaction Volume Trend Analysis
• Average Value per Transaction

India Digital Wallet Market Size and Forecast

• Transaction Value Trend Analysis
• Transaction Volume Trend Analysis
• Average Value per Transaction

India Digital Wallet Market Size and Forecast by Key Segments

• Retail Shopping (Value, Volume, Avg. Value)
• Travel (Value, Volume, Avg. Value)
• Entertainment and Gaming (Value, Volume, Avg. Value)
• Restaurant (Value, Volume, Avg. Value)
• Recharge and Bill Payment (Value, Volume, Avg. Value)

India Digital Wallet Spend by Key Retail Categories

• Food and Grocery
• Health and Beauty Products
• Apparel and Foot Wear
• Books,Music and Video
• Consumer Electronics
• Pharmacy and Wellness
• Gas Stations
• Restaurants and Bars
• Toys, Kids and Baby Products
• Services
• Other Categories

India Prepaid Card Industry Market Attractiveness

• Load Value Trend Analysis
• Transaction Value Trend Analysis
• Transaction Volume Trend Analysis
• Average Value per Transaction
• Number of Cards

Market Share Analysis by Functional Attributes - Open Loop vs. Closed Loop

India Open Loop Prepaid Card Future Growth Dynamics

• Transaction Value Trend Analysis
• Transaction Volume Trend Analysis
• Average Value per Transaction
• Number of Cards

India Closed Loop Prepaid Card Future Growth Dynamics

• Transaction Value Trend Analysis
• Transaction Volume Trend Analysis
• Average Value per Transaction
• Number of Cards

India Prepaid Card Market Share by Key Players

• General Purpose Prepaid Cards
• Business and Administrative Expense Prepaid Cards
• Travel Forex Prepaid Cards
• Meal Prepaid Cards

India Prepaid Card Consumer Usage Trends

• By Age Group
• By Income Group
• By Gender

India Prepaid Card Spend by Key Retail Categories

• Food and Grocery
• Health and Beauty Products
• Apparel and Foot Wear
• Books,Music and Video
• Consumer Electronics
• Pharmacy and Wellness
• Gas Stations
• Restaurants and Bars
• Toys, Kids and Baby Products
• Services
• Other Categories

India General Purpose Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast

India Gift Card Market Size and Forecast

Gift Card Market Size and Forecast by Functional Attribute

• By Open Loop Gift Card
• By Closed Loop Gift Card

Gift Card Market Size and Forecast by Consumer Segments

• By Retail Consumer Segment
• By Corporate Consumer Segment

Gift Card Market Share Analysis by Retail Categories

Gift Card Market Share Analysis by Gifting Occasion

Gift Card Market Share Analysis by Purchase Location

India Entertainment and Gaming Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast

India Teen and Campus Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast

Teen and Campus Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast by Functional Attribute

• By Open Loop Teen and Campus Prepaid Card
• By Closed Loop Teen and Campus Prepaid Card

India Business and Administrative Expense Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast

Business and Administrative Expense Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast by Consumer Segments

• By Small Scale Business Segment
• By Mid-Tier Business Segment
• By Enterprise Business Segment
• By Government Segment

India Payroll Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast

Payroll Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast by Consumer Segments

• By Small Scale Business Segment
• By Mid-Tier Business Segment
• By Enterprise Business Segment
• By Government Segment

India Meal Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast

Meal Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast by Consumer Segments

• By Small Scale Business Segment
• By Mid-Tier Business Segment
• By Enterprise Business Segment
• By Government Segment

India Travel Forex Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast

Travel Forex Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast by Consumer Segments

• By Retail
• By Small Scale Business Segment
• By Mid-Tier Business Segment
• By Enterprise Business Segment
• By Government Segment

India Transit and Tolls Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast

India Healthcare and Wellness Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast

India Social Security and Other Government Benefit Programs Prepaid Card Market Size and Forecast

India Fuel Prepaid Cards Market Size and Forecast

India Utilities, and Other Prepaid Cards Market Size and Forecast

India Virtual Prepaid Card Industry Market Attractiveness

• Transaction Value Trend Analysis
• Transaction Volume Trend Analysis
• Average Value per Transaction

India Virtual Prepaid Card Market Size and Future Growth Dynamics by Key Categories

• General Purpose Prepaid Cards
• Gift Cards
• Entertainment and Gaming Prepaid Cards
• Teen and Campus Prepaid Cards
• Business and Administrative Expense Prepaid Cards
• Payroll Prepaid Cards
• Meal Prepaid Cards
• Travel Forex Prepaid Cards
• Transit and Trolls Prepaid Cards
• Social Security and Other Government Benefit Programs Prepaid Cards
• Fuel Prepaid Cards
• Utilities and Other Prepaid Cards

Reasons to buy

• In-depth understanding of prepaid card and digital wallet market dynamics: Understand market opportunity, industry dynamics, key trends and drivers across 75+ market segments and sub-segments of prepaid payment instrument,Prepaid Card, Digital Wallet and Virtual Prepaid Card in India.
• Understand market opportunities and key trends along with forecast (2019-2028). Understand market dynamics through essential KPIs such as Transaction Value, Transaction Volume, and Average Value Per Transaction.
• Develop market specific strategies: Identify growth segments and target specific opportunities to formulate your prepaid card and digital wallet strategy; assess market specific key trends, drivers and risks in the industry.
• Detailed analysis of market share by key players across key Prepaid Card Categories.
• Get insights into consumer attitude and behaviour: Understand changing consumer attitude and behaviour and boost ROI. Get detailed insights into retail spend through prepaid cards, virtual prepaid cards and digital wallets.