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Digital payments nosedived in April, as economic activities in the country came to a near standstill due to the nationwide lockdown, data released by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) indicated. The value of IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) transactions in April fell to about Rs 1.21 trillion in April, from about Rs 2.02 trillion in March. The transaction count was 122.5 million in April, from 216.8 million in March,  NPCI  declared on Twitter and Facebook. In February, before the lockdown started, the IMPS counter had witnessed about Rs 2.15 trillion worth of value in 247.8 million transactions. ALSO READ:  Aarogya Setu mandatory in containment zones; private firms question move The IMPS is typically used for transactions up to Rs 50,000. The drop in such payments, 43.72 per cent vis-a-vis February, and 40 per cent since March indicate a huge contraction in economic activities. Similarly, transactions through  BHIM  and  UPI...

A little over a month after entering into the digital payment ecosystem in India, Google’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) app Tez has racked up 7.5 million users who have made over 30 million transactions. In a call with investors on Friday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that he was “really excited about the potential this (Tez) brings for India's mostly cash-based economy” while also revealing the growth figures for the app. While Google has not been able to demolish rival BHIM’s record of getting 10 million installs in just 10 days thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi backing, but it’s a commendable feat considering that Tez has lacked several features at launch. But coming into the UPI payments space a little more than a year late, Google has demonstrated that there still is space for growth in India’s digital payments ecosystem. Tez also sets the precedent for Google to invest in more region specific products, which it has rarely done before. “ We see...