The future of digital payments would be so simplified that a transaction can be done between two parties through the nod of a head.
Talking to BusinessLine on the sidelines of the Nasscom India Leadership Forum, Jim McKelvey, Co-founder of Square, a start-up that kickstarted the need for using simplified payment mechanisms instead of expensive Point-of-Sale terminals, said that with modern technology, payments will go through a total facelift.
“It will be like the days before institutions came in and where doing transactions were much simpler,” he said. In a lot of ways, payment experience will be like using Uber, he added, stressing the need for simplicity when it comes to doing financial transactions. McKelvey, who co-founded this venture in 2009, along with Jack Dorsey (now Twitter CEO), believes that the ecosystem is right in India, which can help it to leapfrog payment methodologies being used in developed markets.
“The Indian payments ecosystem is open and fair to small merchants,” added McKelvey. While admitting the fact that traditional financial institutions have been slow to adapt to the pace of technological changes, he added that the conservative approach adopted by these entities is not wrong. “Handling money is a conservative business, which gets into the DNA of these institutions over time but rapid advancements in technology will force everybody to rethink their original beliefs,” he said.
While the Square co-founder has not planned any investments in start-up ventures in the country, he said that his involvement inSixThirty, a company that makes seed investment based out of St. Louis, Missouri, is looking at companies that are focussed on solving problems. “I don’t believe that start-ups should look at seeking opportunities but need to solving problems of scale. Find something you care about which can solve problems of millions of people,” says McKelvey.