Cybersecurity Challenges in Digital Payment Adoption among Rural Farmers

Abstract

The rising rate of diffusion of digital payment infrastructures in India has created significant impacts on the nature of transactional activities in the agricultural industry. The rise of digital payment infrastructures, including the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Aadhaar Enable Payment System (AEPS), and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes, among others, has enabled the expansion of access to financial services and the efficiency of transactions. Nevertheless, rural farmers in India continue to face significant cybersecurity risks of phishing, identity theft, and digital fraud. Infrastructural constraints and generally low levels of digital literacy are among the risks affecting their transactional activities. Through the informed application of the secondary data analytical framework and the data collection of relevant literature and publication materials from policy institutions, the present study systematically integrates and evaluates the implications of cybersecurity risks on the adoption of digital payment infrastructures among rural farmers. The findings of this paper provide critical implications of the risks of cyberfraud on the institutional trust and behavioral intentions of the rural population.