India’s push for a digital, cashless society is forcing the country’s citizens to become mobile and digital friendly.
After last year’s currency ban, the country has pushed cashless transactions in every sphere of citizen life — from payments at the local grocer and refuels at gas stations to utility bill payments and more. Local mobile wallet companies have recorded unprecedented growth as most cash is now useless.
Last month India’s federal bank mandated that even meal vouchers that corporate houses provide their employees must go digital by the end of 2017.
And “cashing in” on this opportunity is Paytm, India’s largest mobile wallet app with 200 million users. It set out with a goal to gain 6 million new users. It has launched a Food Wallet that will compete with established players like Sodexo and Ticket Restaurant in the meal voucher space.
“Every working Indian is eligible for a tax-free food allowance of Rs 50/meal ($0.78) up to Rs 2,200 ($34.15) per month. However, between easily spoiled paper coupons, low acceptability and expiry dates, 60 lakh (6 million) Indians struggle to file their food voucher claims every year,” Paytm said. The Food Wallet feature is integrated within the Paytm app and allows employers to directly top-up the credits for their employees on a flexible daily, monthly or quarterly basis.
The e-cash in the wallet can then be used at office cafeterias and a wide range of offline merchants, which the Alibaba-backed Paytm has partnered with. These include popular fast food chains such as Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Cafe Coffee Day, and food ordering service Zomato.
Users can go to the ‘Passbook’ option on their Paytm app and check their Food Wallet balance. They can also locate the closest food outlet using the ‘nearby’ feature on the app.
To comply with government mandates, mobile app companies are gradually pulling the plug on paper transactions by converting meal vouchers to digital meal cards.
A cashless society is essential to fulfilling prophecy in which economic sanctions are placed on those who refuse to accept the false principles of worship.
“And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark of the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”