Covid-19 woes: Younger families financially most vulnerable

70 per cent of surveyed respondents have experienced job related issues in the past 3 months.

The COVID-19 pandemic has lead to an increase in financial vulnerability, with younger families getting affected the most, as per a survey.

The survey was conducted among 2,000 respondents in July by FIS, a provider of technology solutions for merchants and banks in India.

"70 per cent of surveyed respondents have experienced job related issues in the past 3 months.

“Indian families, especially younger families, are financially vulnerable; 48 per cent cannot meet financial obligations longer than 3 months," the survey said.

FIS said banks can serve their customers as a partner in such challenging times by providing 'need-it-right-now' offerings such as real time/faster payment options, waiving penalty or fee for going below account minimums, increasing spending limits on cards as well as giving flexible terms and limits on personal loans.

The 'FIS PACE Pulse Survey Q3 2020' involved people in the age groups of 18-23 years (Gen Zers), 24-28 (Young Gen Yers); 29-39 (Senior Gen Yers), 40-54 (Gen Xers) and 55-years plus (older consumers).

The young and senior Gen Yers seem to be slightly more adaptive to the current situation than other age cohorts, the study said.

"Indian families are not well prepared for a sudden drop in income.

“5 per cent of the respondents surveyed already cannot make ends meet; nearly one half of surveyed respondents cannot be financially sustainable for more than 3 months (48 per cent)," FIS said.

It said the younger Indian families are more financially vulnerable than older families, with 55 per cent of Gen Zers not being able to meet financial obligations for more than three months, while the figure drops to 36 per cent within the older consumers.

On consumer shopping behaviour, it said 50 per cent have subscribed to streaming services for work, learning and entertainment, more than usual.

"Demand for delivery services is up, 38 per cent use grocery delivery services more than usual, 27 per cent use restaurant delivery services more than usual," it said.

On the payments front, it said 45 per cent of surveyed respondents, including 49 per cent of senior Gen Y customers, have used cash and cheques less often than usual.

On the other side, app, online and contactless payments have seen increase in use, led by young Gen Y users.

The majority (83 per cent) of surveyed respondents said they would use contactless payments instead of cards or cash for in-store shopping in the aftermath of COVID-19.

"Mobile payment wallets are very popular in India, as many as 93 per cent of respondents surveyed are mobile payment wallet users.

"The most popular wallets are social-based wallet apps. Young and Senior Gen Yers are the heaviest users, they used one more wallet than the average mobile payment wallets users do," said Mahesh Ramamoorthy, managing director, APMEA - banking and payments, FIS.

As per the survey, Paytm is the top mobile payment wallet in India.

Around 78 per cent of surveyed respondents are current users of Paytm, significantly higher than the second player Amazon Pay, which was used by 61 per cent of respondents.