India is Considering the Possibility of Launching a Digital Currency

In a bid to develop and sustain a cashless payment system, India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is considering the possibility of launching a digital currency as a medium of exchange and debt settlement.

According to a booklet published this week, the RBI has made significant moves to ensure that India joins the bandwagon of countries adopting a digital payment system.

But the journey of adopting a digital currency was not the same in India. In the past, the RBI kicked against the idea of a digital currency in India on several occasions. 

Considering the significant advancement in the countries digital payment system, the RBI thinks a paradigm shift may pose some difficulties.

“The challenge now is to sustain the growth in payments and ensure a shift in customer behavior from cash to digital payments,” the bank said. 

According to the RBI, the country has to beat the geographical location touchpoint challenge across India and PoS terminals, ATMs, and bank branches.

However, the central bank has plans to deal with the challenges within a well-structured framework. 

“The challenge now is to sustain the growth in payments and ensure a shift in customer behavior from cash to digital payments.”

The latest development adds India to the growing number of countries considering the possibility of fully adopting digital currencies as a payment method. For example, Sweden is looking at stopping its retailers from accepting fiat payments by 2023.

Meanwhile, the central bank is poise to borrow a leaf from its framework methods to upgrade and manage information about its payment system and PoS terminals.

India no longer has worries about the risk associated with cryptocurrencies since the Supreme court lifted the RBI’s ban in 2020. The country is all set to embrace digital currency, even with the major concern challenges.