THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL PAYMENT SYSTEMS ON THE MONTHLY SPENDING AND SAVINGS HABITS OF GOVERNMENT SCHOOL WOMEN TEACHERS IN CHENNAI

Abstract

This study evaluates the behavioral, structural, and financial impacts of digital payment adoption on the monthly spending and savings habits of female government school teachers in Chennai City, Tamil Nadu. While the transition toward Unified Payments Interface (UPI), mobile banking wallets, and debit/credit cards offers unprecedented transaction convenience, it fundamentally alters the psychological "pain of paying," frequently affecting monthly budgetary discipline. Utilizing a stratified random sampling methodology, primary data was gathered from 400 female government school teachers across all three educational administration zones of Chennai City (North, Central, and South). The empirical framework applies a robust four-stage statistical testing architecture: the Chi-Square Test of Independence, Independent Samples t-test, One-Way ANOVA, and Multiple Linear Regression. The empirical results reveal substantial shifts in financial allocation, driven primarily by age demographics, digital literacy, working hours, and impulse spending tendencies. While digital payments enable seamless bill settlements, emergency liquidity, and systematic digital savings (e.g., automated recurring deposits), they simultaneously contribute to increased micro expenditures and reduced monthly cash-savings discipline. The paper concludes with targeted policy measures and financial literacy frameworks designed to foster responsible digital spending habits among public-sector educators.