, Columnist
With Bollywood Lost, Banks Can't Stop Mobile Juggernaut
Lenders' dominance is being dislodged by payment apps.
This article is for subscribers only.
Smug in the belief that their own payment apps would be enough to take on the threat from mobile, India's banks underestimated the risk to their lucrative cards business. A recent Bernstein survey has some sobering news for them: They may have already lost Bollywood, and they can't hope to win the neighborhood grocer.
Almost 30 percent of tickets in the movie-crazy nation are likely to be purchased via mobile phones. That's more than credit or debit cards or cash, the survey released Monday shows. Mobile is also winning in utilities, and is ahead of plastic in how people pay for taxi rides. The only major payments categories that banks still dominate are shopping malls and air tickets. But for how long?