Digital Payment Adoption among Postgraduate Students in Varanasi: An Analysis of Usage Patterns, Preferences and Barriers

Abstract

The research paper under study focuses on the adoption, preferences, and barriers by postgraduate students towards digital payment
systems in Varanasi, which is one of the most important educational centers in India. As India ranks first in the world in the number of realtime transactions related to digital payments and as the digital payment infrastructure has been rapidly growing, it is important to
understand the behavior of students with respect to financial inclusion and economic development. The paper examines the determinants
of adopting digital payments among postgraduate students, their platforms of choice, how they use them, and the difficulties they
encounter when replacing their conventional payment methods with digital solutions.