Understanding Money and Digital Payments

📋 Course Outline

1. Course focus and UPSC economy myths
2. Money functions and evolution of money
3. Barter system disadvantages
4. Money types and legal tender criteria
5. Currency notes denominations and RBI apps
6. RBI CBDC and eRupee distribution rules
7. UPI ecosystem, QR codes and interoperability
8. Merchant discount rate and UPI MDR subsidy
9. NPCI initiatives: BBPS and UPMS
10. Cryptocurrency, blockchain and CBDC basics
11. NFT definition, uses and challenges

📖 1. Course focus and UPSC economy myths

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• UPSC Prelims economy myths : These are common misconceptions about what UPSC Prelims Economy questions focus on and how they are asked.
• PYQ analysis : PYQ analysis is studying past UPSC questions to infer recurring themes, difficulty patterns, and topic spread.
• Increased diversity in Economy topics : This refers to the observed widening of Economy subtopics appearing across UPSC Prelims questions over time.
• Barter system : Barter is direct exchange of goods for other goods without using money as an intermediary.

📝 Essential Points