A STUDY ON DIGITAL PAYMENT USAGE WITH REFERENCE TO RURAL AND URBAN PEOPLE IN MYSORE

India’s digital payment system has grown quickly, mainly because of initiatives like the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Aadhaar-enabled services. This growth has changed how financial transactions happen across the country. However, the adoption of these digital payments is uneven, especially between urban and rural areas. In this particular study that is carried out in Mysore, which happens to be one of the districts in the state of Karnataka, the focus is on the behavior, infrastructure and socio-economic aspects that determine the adoption of digital payments in both rural and urban areas. In this particular study, descriptive and comparative approaches have been adopted and data collected through interviews and questionnaires with stratified random sampling techniques. From the findings obtained, it becomes apparent that those who are below the age of 30 years are the ones who adopt digital payments. They consider the use of apps easy to use and prefer the use of apps even for very small amounts. While urban users appear mature in the use of all the functionalities of the apps, including payment of bills, topping up the accounts and transferring money to their peers, rural users face difficulties like poor connectivity, lack of digital skills and issues related to security, using mainly intermediaries for carrying out transactions.