Rapid expansion of the Indian digital payment’s ecosystem, driven by UPI, mobile wallets and QR-based transactions, has significantly penetrated the small towns and low-income segments, positioning them as the critical entry points for the low-cash economy. While previous research has focused mainly on pre-conditions for adoption, such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social impact and perceived trust, there is limited understanding of how the mindful use of digital payments shapes the sustainable behaviour of payment users in the physical world. Digital payment mindfulness can be conceived as a reflective, aware and deliberate mode of engagement with payment applications, which is characterised by attention to transaction details, security cues, the consequences of spending and the contextual risks.The proposed study aims to examine the role of digital payment awareness in influencing the frequency, continuity and quality of cashless payment behaviour among consumers with a low propensity to save, in India, with a particular focus on savings-related transactions. The study will develop and validate a multidimensional scale for digital payment awareness, drawing on literature on mindful use of technologies and financial literacy, and adapting it to the context of low income and low resources. It will look at how awareness, ease of use, digital literacy and risk-prevalence predict the use of mobile payments, savings-related transactions to auto-payments, micro-investment apps and reduced reliance on cash by consumers rural areas. Structured questionnaires will be administered using assisted data collection. The data will be analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and modelling of structural relationships to assess the reliability and validity of the digital payment habituation model and to test the hypotheses on structural relationships. The study should theoretically contribute by introducing and operationalising digital payment awareness in the literature on cashless payments in emerging economies and by extending frameworks for the uptake of technologies with a more nuanced psychological perspective. From a management and policy point of view, the findings can inform the design of incentives, in-app interfaces and financial education interventions to increase mindful use, reduce fraud and excessive spending, and promote an inclusive, resilient and responsible cashless payment ecosystem for consumers in India, through savings-based transactions.