MasterCard and Citibank India have launched what they claim is the first global digital wallet service in India.
India looks likely to be a major market for digital wallets. A 2014 MasterCard online survey found that mobile purchases grew by over 100% in India, the world's second-largest country. MasterCard and Citi also found a 76% increase in e-commerce activity the last two years, which they project to exceed $17.2 billion in transactions by the end of 2015. Forty-one percent of Citibank card transactions within the country occur online, the companies said.
"As Indian consumers embrace a more digital lifestyle, Citi MasterPass will enable efficient, secure and quick checkout experiences for shoppers," Vikas Varma, MasterCard's executive director for South Asia, said in the release. "Beyond a platform that hosts digital wallets, Citi MasterPass will also provide the technology for merchants to offer new and innovative services, and unique features for shoppers."
Though overall still considered a developing country, India's south has had a strong tech sector and infrastructure to support it. According to Citi and MasterCard, $6 billion has been invested in Indian Internet infrastructure, a large sum in a country where the gross domestic product per capita was $1,630 last year. A Citi research report published March 2015 found that 92% of India's 260 million Internet users connect wirelessly, and 20% have mobile broadband services. Like other developing countries with large rural populations, new Indian Internet users are skipping the desktop and going straight to mobile.
