E-payments added USD 1.5 bn to India's GDP during 2008-12:Visa

On a global note, increased electronic payments added USD 983 billion to the GDP of 56 countries during this period, which is equivalent to creating 1.9 million jobs, said the Visa-Moody's Analytics study.

However, the findings point out that India lags behind other emerging nations like China, Brazil and Russia among others in e-payments as the third largest Asian economy is still cash-driven.

While China witnessed an addition of USD 375 billion due to the increased card usage during 2008-12, it was USD 51 billion for Brazil and USD 36 billion for Russia.

"With growing card usage contributing USD 1.5 billion to the country's GDP, there is no denying the benefits of electronic payments here," Visa Group Country Manager for India and South Asia Uttam Nayak told reporters here.

He, however, said despite a base of 300 million debit and credit card users, there is still very limited usage, which provides ample opportunities for the future.

On the importance of higher electronic payments, Nayak said payment through cash and cheques are not efficient and increased card usage would lead to high level of transperency in the economy.

He also underlined the need for safe and secured mode for electonic payments.

As per the study, while card usage added 0.8 per cent to the GDP of emerging markets, it added 0.3 per cent to Gross Domestic

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