Echoes of a Cashless Future: Digital Payments as Catalysts for Sustainable Finance

Abstract

The digital solutions for an economy bring more environmental and economic benefits for cashless transactions. For example, generating, transporting, and securing physical currency has huge costs involved. Compared to global economies, digital payments have been accepted very rapidly in India. The strong growth has been evident with the support of systems such as UPI and Aadhaar-linked services. India processed more than 9 billion monthly UPI transactions in the last year of this decade, marking a growth rate of 78% from the previous one. The country has set a benchmark for digital finance. Digital payment can help work towards sustainable finance through the management of cash dependency, upon which this paper bases its deliberation, emphasizing the Indian success in comparison with global circumstances. Handling cash carries a cost, but digitization also leads to a decrease in carbon footprint. This includes fintech innovations that can eventually bring better financial inclusion and efficiency. Analysis of key data points by comparison of the global and Indian digital payment ecosystems will help reinforce the pivotal role of digital payments in an endeavor to make for a more resilient economy.