Global conversations on the increase in digital payments during COVID-19 are primarily focused on behavioural change among consumers. Through the case study of India, this article documents how various supply side actors (political, economic, financial, and technological) used the pandemic to generate a public consensus about digital payments. It demonstrates how: a) they framed the agenda to draw public attention on cash and digital payments during COVID-19 pandemic, b) to do so, they extended and deviated from narratives created during demonetisation (2016) and Digital India (2015), and c) that trade bodies and businesses unrelated to banking, finance and technology in the domestic market are very active in such agenda-setting. Pandemicera agenda-setting will mould the payments trajectory at both the international and national level. In India, it challenges factors that previously elicited trust in cash: its materiality and associated social interaction. Consequently, older agendas are promoted and digital, particularly contactless, payments are now considered essential.
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