A Study on Strategies to Enhance Payment Banks Usage Among Students of Selected Higher Education Institutions of North India with Reference to Rajasthan

Payment Banks - a differentiated model for financial inclusion by Reserve Bank of India Payment Banks introduced in 2015 represent a new and differentiated banking model designed to further financial inclusion among the unbanked and under-banked population in India. This has been accomplished through an expansion of digital payment systems following demonetisation in 2016 and the UPI revolution. However, payment bank adoption remains limited among students enrolled in higher education institutions (HEIS) of North India, particularly in Rajasthan. This paper will analyse strategies to enhance usage of payment bank services among this demographic based exclusively on secondary data sources from RBI annual reports up to 2022-23; NPCI publications; PMJDY portal data; Dun and peer reviewed Scopus indexed literature published up to 2023. Key barriers that have been identified as limitations to adopting payment bank services are – insufficient awareness of these services by students; trust deficiencies with regards to security of personal information; restrictive scope of service offerings by Payment Banks; digital illiteracy gaps between students and technology used by Payment Banks; and perceived risk associated with transaction process. A multi-part strategy will be proposed by the author to build adoption of payment bank services among students enrolled in HEIS in northern India - including campus-based financial literacy programmes; product design initiatives that target the needs of students; technological advances that make it easier for students to use their mobile devices to access payment bank services; partnership initiatives between payment bank managers and educational policy makers/regulators; trust-building mechanisms to address student concerns about security and confidentiality of personal information; and policy level interventions to support the development of both technology and the capabilities of both students and teachers in using them.