Today’s the launch of the Digital India initiative and quite a coincidence that I had an experience which makes me believe that Digital India is already here.
Here’s what happened.
I was in Mumbai and called for an Uber. I started talking to the cabbie to understand the target market for a specific use case for mTuzo . We are pitching to banks that with mTuzo we can help move their debit card customer from an ATM only to ATM + POS relationship.
So I asked him which bank account he gets his Uber payments in – it was a SBI account and it was his choice. Uber gives him complete freedom to choose the banking partner.
Next I asked him if he had a debit card for that account . Turned out he did.
I asked him if he’s been using that card at ATM or for shopping also. As expected he had been using it only for cash withdrawals.
Probing further I asked him what if he got 15-20% discount if he shopped using his debit card, would he consider switching from cash to card. And his response just stumped me.
He said he’s already used his card for online purchases at SnapDeal. He did his first purchase using COD (cash on delivery) but once he was sure that they delivered just fine, his next transaction was through his debit card,
Let me repeat that – a 30 something male who has been driving a cab in Mumbai for last 10 years, is only schooled till class 10th, who uses his debit card only for cash withdrawal, has used it online at SnapDeal.
And what really really shocked me was his first purchase on SnapDeal. I can bet you will never be able to guess it.
Take a few guesses…..
…….
He bought a selfie stick for Rs 300 (after a 66% discount). A selfie stick !!!!
I rest my case, Digital India is here.
Maybe we need a Digital Bharat initiative.
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