Convenience in Mobility Payments - AGS India
                     ConvenienceinMobilityPayments
TheIndianpaymentecosystemhasevolvedsignificantlyoverthelastfewyears,especially post 
demonetisation and the pandemic. Consumers today prefermaking digital payments across all 
touchpoints such as payment counters 
atretailoutlets,petrolpumps,transitmodes,e-commercewebsites,Kiosksetc.
Whiledigitalpaymentsareprevalentinalmosteverysector,anewwaveofdigitaltransform
ationislikelytobeseeninmobilitypayments.
For decades, cash has been the preferred mode for transit/mobility 
payments.However, post demonetisation and post-pandemic era, digital 
modes 
ofpaymentshavewitnessedanunprecedentedgrowth.Oneofthemostimportantreasons for
this isconsumers’ growing preference towards safe, secure andconvenient 
payments.To cater to this demand, various mobility serviceproviders are 
collaborating with payment players to offer hassle-free 
digitalpaymentsolutions.
 Let  us  understandhowconvenienceinmobilitypaymentsisshapingthewayfor  a  more  sea 
 mlesstransit/mobilitypaymentecosystem  in  India:  
Riseofsuperapps
India has witnessed the proliferation of ‘super apps’ in the last decade. 
Theseare all-in-one mobile applications that can be used for ordering food, 
hailingtaxis, online shopping, buying travel tickets like Metro, flights etc., 
rechargingphones and so on. In the context of Indian mobility, these applications let 
youmakepaymentsforsuchserviceson-the-gobywayofQRcodes,UPIetc.Thisreduces 
the hassle of navigating through a zillion applications, thus enhancingoveralluser-
experienceandprovidingaddedconvenience.
Fuelpaymentsbecomingmore‘swift’
Fuelling is an important part of the mobility ecosystem of our 
country.Traditionally,fuel RetailOutlets i.e. ROs have been cash intensive. 
However,post pandemic there is an increased adoption in contactless/digital 
paymentsacross OMC’s fuel retail outlets. This is evident by the various digital
modes ofpayments such as card payments, UP IQR on PoS or otherwise 
offered acrossfuel retail outlets. Various technology solutions such asAGS 
TransactTechnologies’ Integrated Payment Solution or IPS, provides 
merchantsadditionalcontrolovertransactions,greatertransparencytoendconsumers,th
usencouragingdigitalpaymentsviaPoSatfuelretailoutlets.
Growing awareness, the Government of India’s initiatives of 
incentivisingdigital payments have encouraged both the consumers & 
merchants to opt fordigital modes of payments, especially at fuel retail outlets. 
According to 
anindustrysurveyconductedin2020,around90%ofthepetrolpumpcustomersinMumbai 
use wallets and other digital payment modes such as cards 
witnessedover50%increaseinpetrolpumpsoutsidebigcities.
Digital payments are continuously enhancing customer experience by 
offeringadded convenience in the form of reduced time spent at the RO (need 
for exactchangeincashpaymentisnegated),greatertransparencyintheoverallprocessand
hassle-free management of e-receipts and transaction history. Further, 
thereward/loyaltypointsearnedaddtothisexperience.
As  experience  &  convenience-based  offerings  gain  momentum,  many
paymentplayers have renewed their value proposition. For instance, AGSTTL
throughits digital payments brandOngo, is pilot-testing RFID-based refuelling
across
aleadingOMC’sfuelretailoutlets.Thissolutionaimstoenhanceoverallfuellingexperienceofth
ebyoffering‘convenience’.
IntroductionofmobilitycardsortheNationalCommonMobilityCard
WithinteroperabilitygainingmomentumandtheGOI’sintroductionofNationalCommon 
Mobility Card (NCMC), India is set to be at par with its counterparts.TheNational Common Mobility Card, 
supported by RuPay network enablespayments for multi-modal transit in India. 
This card allows consumers to makepayments at RuPay-accepted touchpoints 
across sectors like the metro, bus,suburban railways, retail, toll, and parking. 
Such services are expected to boostcross-platform payments in a safe & secure 
manner. A payment mode such asthis improves customer experience and 
integrates ‘convenience’ deeply in thevaluechainofmobilitypayments.
Recently, Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi symbolically 
inauguratedBangalore Metro and its Rupay National Common Mobility Card, 
issued byRBL Bank and powered by AGS Transact Technologies. In addition 
toBangalore Metro stations, the NCMC card can also be used at any 
NCMCenabled metro stations across the country such as Kochi Metro, Delhi 
Metro andMumbaiMetro.Beinganopen-
loopcard,itcanbealsousedtoshopandpayforparking.
Tollpaymentsgoingdigital
FASTag, the GOI’s product forelectronic toll collectionin India, 
speaksvolumes about how convenience has found home even in the most 
traditionalpaymentchannelssuchastollcollection.BasedonRFIDtechnology,thistagi
saffixed on the windscreen of user’s vehicle, and it is scanned the momentpasses through the toll gates. This 
has resulted in reduced wait time at tollplazas and negated the hassle of 
exchanging exact change, thereby 
enhancingtheoverallconvenienceinvolvedinanindividual’sday-to-daycommute.
These benefits have led to an exponential increase – with the number 
oftransactionsusingFASTagwitnessingagrowthofapproximately48%in2022as 
compared to 2021. In addition, FASTag is extended for another crucialcomponentofthemobilityecosystem–
parking.Beinginteroperable,FASTag
issuedbyanymemberbankisacceptedatallNETCenabledparkingspaces.This facility 
eliminates the need for cash transactions, resulting in quickerentry/exit.
To conclude, while cash is touted to be the most convenient and thus 
preferredmodeofpaymentacrosssectors,thegrowingneedforconveniencewillbethepr
imary/driving force in mobility payments. This could be achieved byinnovation, integration, and 
collaboration to offer ‘payments-on-the-go’, 
withtheaimtoprovideaseamless,swiftertravellingexperience.H e n c e , ina
cut-
throatworld,whatwilltrulydifferentiateoneofferingfromtheotheristhelevelofconvenienc
ethattheuserwillgettoenjoy.