Demonetisation, Banking and Trust in ‘Bricks’ Or ‘Clicks’

Abstract

This article seeks to advance contextualised understanding of the extent to which a cashless economy in India can be a feasible developmental goal. Initially, impressed with critiques of the sudden ‘demonetisation’ on 8 November 2016, we conducted econometric research to test how banks (‘bricks’) could be brought closer to rural people. However, this traditional approach of envisaging more banks was rapidly overtaken by the massive uptake of digital payment methods (‘clicks’) in India since 2016. Partly driven by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), this has raised new concerns and research agenda focused on people’s trust in banking and new technologies, consumer skills and people’s basic rights vis-à-vis a state that, controversially, now seems to be seeking more control within a relentlessly changing postmodern scenario.