The COVID-19 pandemic has created havoc across the world economies and India in the month of June has witnessed -23% growth in the GDP. So, we can imagine the kind of impact it has on almost all the sectors of the economy. However, the pandemic has also created opportunities for some companies which deal in the digital world. For example, these days we are using Paytm services more as compared to cash for buying anything from grocery to medicine, etc. Many state governments are making efforts to use the touchless smart cards in a public transportation system like Bus or Metrorail. In today’s blog, we are discussing one such company called Fino-Paytech which is working with the Maharashtra state government to help them use Smart cards for paying tickets on the bus instead of cash. In this project, Fino-Paytech is supported by CityCash. About City Cash CityCash is a start-up company in the fintech industry bringing state-of-the-art technologies and unique business models in the digital payments space with a focus on NFC based card payments. Started as an initiative to make India ‘Less Cash’ and offer digital payments for everyone, CityCash designs, deploys, and operates low cost offline and online payment technologies focused on the underserved space of high volume, low-value payments. In 2018, Fino-Paytech picked up a minority stake in City cash to grow its business in digital payments. NFC enabled Smart card Fino’s NFC based smart card will be used in the mass transit system and provide a mean of contactless or tap-and-go payment ticketing. This kind of initiative is required in today’s time to curb the spread of viruses. Fino Paytech has already issued ~30 Lakh NFC-enabled smart cards that will be used in 20k buses in Maharashtra. UnlistedZone view We think that going forward all these smart cards will become a norm and once people will become comfortable, they will start using these cards instead of cash. So, the companies which are working in the digital segment will be the ultimate beneficiary in the time to come.