Comments
As the Centre’s drive to digitalise money payments sees mixed results, a recent study has suggested developing a range of India-specific oral icons to cater to the needs of those who cannot read or write.
An estimated 264 million people in the country are ‘oral’ or illiterate and neo-literate, a new study by MicroSave has said, and that icons in mobile wallets should be designed based on their understanding and usage patterns. Terming it a ‘Mobile Wallet for Oral’, the study has suggested that the facility have “functionalities to send money, request money, add money, pay bills and an image-based phone book”.
Further, it should support large digit numerals with cash equivalents that users can easily count and limiting the number of elements to just five per page to make it easier for the users to comprehend.
The study, which was conducted last year in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar, found that when asked to count cash, respondents — both neonumerates and innumerates — could do it correctly by recognising and calculating the denominations.
“By contrast, the widespread presence of multi-digit numeral strings/place value in financial reporting has not led to successful adaptation among oral people,” it noted.
Accordingly, the MicroSave has suggested that financial service providers design their products for the segment after empirical testing of capabilities.
It also found that those who could easily use mobile wallets were people aged between 25 and 35 years, or using other phone features like calculators and address books.
Since the decision to demonetise high-value currency in November last year, the government and the Reserve Bank of India have been working to promote digital transactions through internet banking and mobile wallets. It also launched the UPI-based BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) app.
While digital transactions rose in December 2016 following the currency squeeze, people have been moving back to using cash for payments for a variety of reasons, including the purported ease of use.
According to data with the RBI, the number of digital transaction shot up to 123.46 crore in December last year, from 83.48 crore in November 2016. However, since then, it has been declining.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.