Sustainable digital payment systems are essential for strengthening India’s financial ecosystem, particularly for low-income and underserved populations. Payment banks, designed to encourage financial inclusion, depend heavily on digital usability, operational reliability, and user satisfaction for their long-term sustainability. This pilot study explores how key dimensions of digital payment banking usability, accessibility, affordability, trust, system reliability, and service support shape financial inclusion outcomes. Using a structured questionnaire administered to 48 respondents, the study employs simple descriptive statistics, reliability checks, and correlation analysis to evaluate user experiences and perceived service sustainability. Findings indicate that easy-to-use digital interfaces, affordable services, predictable fees, and reliable transaction performance strongly influence user satisfaction and their continued use of payment bank services. Operational reliability emerged as a central predictor of sustained engagement, suggesting that system stability and timely customer support are critical for service sustainability. While limited by its small sample size, this pilot study provides early evidence on the factors influencing sustainable digital payment banking in India and offers directions for scaling up research, improving service delivery, and strengthening policy interventions to advance long-term financial inclusion.
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