The pandemic has impacted digital transformation in a range of ways. Payment links via SMS or WhatsApp have emerged as the front runner in contactless payments in the second wave of the pandemic with Mswipe registering a record six times growth in Pay By Link based (PBL) transactions. PBL transactions grew from 2.37 lakh in March 2020 to 12.55 lakh in March 2021.

A high adoption has been observed across metro cities including Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai and Hyderabad, and non-metros such as Kanchipuram Tiruvallur, Coimbatore, Vadodara, and Goa.

According to the findings, higher adoption in metro cities is witnessed in customers across various segments including e-commerce, auto accessories, mobile phones, and groceries. On the other hand, in non-metros, merchants are witnessing higher traction for link-based payments for groceries, electronic items such as mobile phones, purchase of travel tickets, clothing, and at restaurants.

Mswipe studied the pattern of contactless payments across its merchant base. The Total Payment Value (TPV) noted through PBL registered a four-times growth from Rs 107 crore in March 2020 to Rs 400 crore in March 2021. The average ticket size of a PBL based transaction was around Rs 3,000.

“The high adoption of Pay By Link noted by our merchants definitely signals greater choice, flexibility, and convenience that has been brought to the checkout stage. With Pay By Link, we have brought two key benefits to contactless payments – it makes it possible for the merchant to collect payments remotely at the time of the delivery and it also gives the customer the convenience of not having to be present at the point of delivery. Despite the second wave of pandemic resulting in extended lockdowns and largely remote delivery of products, Mswipe merchants were able to have higher conversions at checkout through the link-based payments,” said Ankit Bhatnagar, Head of Product, Mswipe.