Design a digital payments system for rural India.

1. CLARIFY: 
   1. May I assume there is access to electricity though some households may not have individual power? Yes.  
   2. May I assume there is likely not proper internet or cell connection? Yes. 
   3. Do we want a payment system that is on a mobile device? You choose.
   4. If we go the mobile device route, may we assume most villagers do not have a smart phone (too expensive)? Yes.
   5. May I assume that laptops / internet connection may be rare for villagers? Yes. 
2. PAYTM BACKGROUND: Paytm is an Indian eCommerce payment system / financial technology company. It works in 11 different Indian languages and offers online payment options: mobile recharges, utiltity, etc. and in store payments: grocery store, fruit / vegetable shops, restaurants, etc. It offers a Paytm Wallet and helps facilitate money transfers instantly at zero cost. You can send money with QR codes for merchants or via mobile numbers. 
3. RURAL INDIA BACKGROUND: Rural India is home to ~70% of the nation's popuklation. Most of the population there lives in villages. Villages are all said to have electricity, though individual households may not have it. Internet and cell connection may be spotty. 
4. GOAL: Acquire new users in rural India.
5. USERS: I'd like to focus on the individual buyers, as I believe there is a bigger user population to meet our goal 
   1. Buyers: Individuals purchasing goods.
   2. Merchants: Businesses that accept payment in exchange for goods / services. In a rural village, likely farmer, local shop, etc. 
6. PAYMENT SOLUTIONS: 
   1. Text Send / Receive Money: Text message system that allows users to send and receive money on a feature phone. Simple interface. Ex. your phone is linked to your bank account. Text a PayTM number that has auto responses. Reply with cell number of recipient. Press 1 send money or 2 request money. Include dollar amount. 
   2. Payments Stations: Set up payment stations that are similar to ATMs except they work for digital payments. Allow users to send / receive money with minimal info requested (ex. phone number of recipient). Could have ATM capabilities as well. 
   3. Wallet Debit Card Distribution: Because users likely don't have smart phones, can create a physical debit card for Wallet. Partner with local banks to get them to link their accounts to Paytm Wallet / debit card. User could use debit card a various banks. Send representatives to help expand debit card distributions linked to bank account. 
   4. POS Terminals: Create POS terminal system for merchants that have code user can text to pay. Each terminal is given it's own code. POS terminal is linked to merchant bank account. No user set up required (just automated text messages to respond to).
7. PRIORITIZE SOLUTIONS:

   1. Solution	Impact to User / Goal	Cost to Company
      Text Send / Receive Money	High	Low
      Payment Stations	High	High
      Wallet Debit Card Distribution	Low	Medium
      POS Terminals	Medium	Medium

8. METRICS:
   1. # of users who use text system
   2. Total money sent and received via text system
   3. Average money sent and received / uesr
9. SUMMARY: To create a digital payments solution in rural India, I will create a text message system with a simple interface / auto response that allows users to send and receive money. This build will work on a feature phone, as most users likely do not have smart phones given higher poverty levels.
10. CAVEATS: 
    1. If users do not have access to feature phones (depending on poverty levels of the regions), this build will not be as successful. 
    2. Users also require access to electricity to charge phones. If electricity is difficult to access in certain parts of the countryside, digital payments may not be a good solution / physical cash may be an easier alternative.
    3. Users also require cell connection. If certain areas are deadzones with poor connection, text system won't work either. 

Clarification:
- Do you mean payment system that can be used on the phone? [yes]
- Feature phone or smart phone like Android? [feature phone]
- Does the phone have a touch screen? [No]
- Should I assume there is very little wifi courage, and spotty 2G network? [yes]
- The goal is to design a digital payment system that can work smoothly and reliably in this environment? [yes]

User:
The user will be adults 20 years and above living in rural India, right? [Yes]

Great, I can think of a few potential user persona that will benefit from such a payment system.
1. Illiterate rural peddler
2. busy housewife
3. Seniors receiving goverment aid

I would like to focus on the illiterate rural peddler persona, is it ok? [yes, go ahead]

Illiterate rural peddler are the focused user of this payment system
- He will receive money from other buyers through the mobile payment
- He would like to get instant notifications once a payment is received.
- He might need to cash out at times, from his balance
- He might need to stock up his supply in advance, and often short of cash flow.
Other rural customers are also user of the payment system, who might come from different cultural/religion background, and speak different language. They will pay money from the accounts.

Adminstrators of this payment system are also user, who need to manage the system and make changes to user accounts as needed.

Pain points:
If we imagine a modern payment system such as Venmo in rural India, there are a number of pain points:
1. There are no online banking to transfer balance to and from the account, due to the limited connectivity.
2. The connectivity is so slow and unreliable, that basic notifications, confirmations, or even login/authentication won't work reliably through the mobile data.
3. The app requires the user to be able to read/write in EN, while most of the target users speaks their unique language, and couldn't write.

Prioritization:

Now I have the follow requirements:

1. The payment system must support multiple local language to maximize the user coverage, and work effectively with users who cannot read/write effectively.
2. The payment system must work reliably, even though the connection is spotty.
3. The payment app must work on feature phone platform.
4. The payment system must allow easy deposit and cash withdraw, even though there is no online banking.
5. The payment system must be able to give instant notification, if money is received, even though the peddler couldn't read and is always busy with customers. vice versa, it must also be able to give instant notification when money are sent out.
6. The payment system should be able to lend money to the peddler, to solve his short term cash flow problem.

1-4 are essential for such payment system to work in rural India, P0
5 is specially tailored for the peddler persona, P1
6 is a clear value adding feature, it requires complex credit system and risk control, but user wow effect is also high, I will handle it as P2.

Solution:
The digital payment system consist of a mobile payment app and payment backend.
1. The payment app must support major Indic languages, the top 8~16, to ensure user coverage.
2. The payment app must support major feature phone platforms.
3. To overcome the spotty connectivity, the payment system will use the phone number as user ID, so that the user doesn't need to log in.
4. To have smooth transaction over the spotty connectivity. The payment app can use SMS to request payment backend to send money to another user's account(phone number), and confirmation of transaction will be sent to users (sender/receiver) in SMS as well.
5. To notify user who cannot read/write or too busy to read, the payment app can read out the SMS contents outloud, if the message are from the payment backend.
6. To allow user to cash/deposit money without online banking, the payment backend can allow user to manange their balance when they are visiting local banks.
7. To solve the short term cash flow issue, the payment backend can provide the user with an initial credit when they activate their account, which the peddler can use to purchase their supply to start the business. Later based on their transaction pattern, the system can gradually increase their line of credit, to more effectively support their business.

Summary:
In short, the payment system I designed will make it easy for rural indian users to use by supporting feature phone access, local language, reliable transaction through SMS and easy management of balance through partnership with local banks. The voice TTS notification provides additional convenience to the user and the innovative small loan system can help to lift more people out of poverty by supporting them to start the business.