NEW DELHI: 'Cashless Bano India', a campaign aimed at accelerating the adoption of digital forms of payments through an on-ground and TV campaign, has been launched to educate the masses about digital payment solutions and encourage its usage for everyday spends.

This campaign launched by NDTV Mumbai and Mastercard will work with partners in driving behavioral change and spread awareness on the importance of digital payments to millions across the country.

The campaign was launched through a high decibel panel discussion focusing on the need for a robust digital payments ecosystem in the country.

Cashless Bano India would also extend to Tier-II and Tier-III cities through on-ground educative sessions aimed at reaching public-at-large as well as merchants with the support of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

The panel discussion was attended by Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, ‎Mastercard Asia Pacific co-president Ari Sarker, CAIT general secretary Praveen Khandelwal, Sr. Fellow, Brookings & Former Government Chief Economic Adviser Dr. Arvind Virmani, former IMF Executive Director, IMF; Axis Bank executive director Rajeev Anand and Punjab National Bank MD and CEO Sunil Mehta and moderated by NDTV consulting editor Vikram Chandra

Kant said, “The Government has been aggressively driving the push to a less-cash society, bringing a number of policy reforms and initiatives. The vision is to make India lead the world in the evolution of payment systems with technology paving the way. Initiatives like Cashless Bano India will further propel the efforts in bringing a behavioral change towards digital payments and further help in the penetration of digital payments to the last mile.”

“With digitization becoming a part of our life in more ways than one, cashless payments are the future of our country. While the benefits of digital payments to the nation and to individuals are obvious, many roadblocks to speedy implementation still remain. This brain storming session with all stakeholders including the government, bankers, traders and the aam aadmi hopes to charter a blueprint for secure and simple cashless transactions to help build a better India”, said Chandra.

“The digital payments industry in India is at an inflection point. Enablers like Jan-Dhan, Aadhaar, mobile penetration, and more recently demonetization have created a strong foundation for large scale adoption of digital payment systems in India. This is a long term story, which will require a combination of infrastructure, sleek user experience with highest standards of safety and security, last mile distribution and reach, together with the right policy initiatives, and significant marketing and communications efforts to build awareness on the benefits of a digital economy”, said Sarker. "Through our collaboration with like-minded partners like NDTV, we want to do our bit to realize the vision of a cashless India.”

The panel discussion ended with Amitabh Kant, Vikram Chandra and Ari Sarker flagging off a bus, scheduled to travel across the five cities of Kanpur, Jaipur, Surat, Indore and Nagpur. This would be an extended on-ground activation of the campaign, whereby financial literacy and adoption camps would be conducted at the respective cities for traders and merchants.