Understanding the Factors Influencing Street Vendors towards Use of Digital Payment Systems in India

This research paper studies the aspects that impact the use of digital payment systems by street vendors in Mumbai and Thane Region. The responses for the study were composed through a designed questionnaire and informal interaction from 93 street vendors. The respondents were vendors selling a variety of items such as vegetables, fish, milk, coconut, Idli/Dosa, Juice, Vada Pav, Mangoes and Masks. The paper highlights the challenges - technological and otherwise, faced by the vendors in dealing with digital payments in their day to day business transactions. The study indicates that most vendors were receptive to the idea of accepting payments through digital platforms, however the preference for having cash in hand still persists among the majority of the population. To understand the adoption trends of digital payments among the vendor population, hypotheses were constructed around variables such as education, gender and change in income, which were then tested using correlation and chi square techniques. The research emphasizes the need for collective action towards education and awareness measures directed to the vendors, so that a majority of the population could be bought under the gamut of digital literacy.