Role Of Digital Banking and Upi Services During Covid-19: A Household Perspective in Madurai

Abstract

COVID-19 pushed Indian households into digital finance faster than most adoption campaigns ever had. When lockdowns made bank visits difficult and handling cash felt like a health risk, families turned to UPI and digital banking for everyday transactions — bill payments, transfers, online purchases, utilities. This study looks at how that shift played out at the household level in Madurai.The questions driving the study were practical ones: how aware were households of these services, how much were they actually using them, what made people adopt them, how satisfied were they, and what went wrong? Primary data was collected from 200 respondents in Madurai City through a structured questionnaire and analysed using percentage analysis, mean scores, Chi-square tests, correlation, and regression in SPSS.Awareness and usage both rose sharply during the pandemic. Convenience, transaction speed, and the desire to avoid physical contact were the main factors behind adoption. Education, digital literacy, and internet access influenced not just whether households used these services, but how comfortably and how often. The problems that surfaced — failed transactions, connectivity issues, cybersecurity fears, limited technical knowledge — were common enough to be worth taking seriously.Digital banking and UPI held household finances together during a period when most physical options were unavailable. That's worth acknowledging. But the gaps that showed up during COVID-19 didn't disappear after it — better infrastructure, more responsive security, and practical digital literacy support are still needed for this participation to become genuinely inclusive.