印度规模达到340亿美元的黄金市场正在发生变化。
The buying and selling of gold has traditionally been done face-to-face. But now smartphones, e-wallets and some investment programs are bringing new buyers into the business.
买卖黄金历来都是通过面对面的方式完成的。但是现在智能手机、电子钱包以及一些投资项目开始将新的买家带进生意中。
Digital payment systems have grown in popularity in India since the government stopped producing large-value bank notes in 2016.
自2016年印度政府停止发行大面额钞票以来，数字支付系统在印度越来越受欢迎。
Now, there are computer software applications that let smartphone users buy, sell or keep gold, even in small amounts. The Reuters news agency reports that a private company keeps gold purchased or sold electronically in secured storage vaults.
现在，有一些计算机软件应用程序允许智能手机用户买卖或者保存黄金，即使数额很小。据路透社报道，一家私营企业通过电子方式在安全储存库中买卖黄金。
Online gold purchases have been growing worldwide for years. But they are a new idea in India, where jewelry and pieces of gold are often kept by individuals or given as gifts.
在线黄金交易多年来在全球范围内一直都在增长。但是对于珠宝和黄金往往由个人保存或是作为礼物赠送的印度来说，这是一种新的观念。
"In India, the action is really starting now. The digitization of the economy will certainly lead to the digitization of gold," said Somasundaram PR. He is managing director of India operations for the World Gold Council. He believes the digitalization of gold will grow in the coming 12-24 months.
“这种行为在印度已经真正开始了。经济的数字化必将导致黄金的数字化，”世界黄金协会印度区总裁Somasundaram PR如是表示。他相信未来12-24个月内黄金数字化将会扩大。
The World Gold Council estimated total Indian gold demand at 727 tons in 2017, and thinks it could rise to 800 tons in 2018. In China, the country using the most gold, demand was 953.3 tons last year.
世界黄金协会估计2017年印度的黄金总需求量为727吨，并认为这一数字在2018年会上升到800吨。作为消耗黄金最多的国家，中国去年的黄金总需求量为953.3吨。
It is difficult to estimate how many buyers are entering the market because of software apps or the internet. One digital payments company reported that in the first six months after it began offering digital gold last April, it processed about $18.4 million worth of sales. That represents a small part of the Indian gold market.
由于软件应用程序或互联网的应用，很难估计有多少买家进入市场。一家数字支付公司报告称，在该公司去年4月开始提供数字化黄金之后的前六个月里，该公司处理了大约1840万美元的销售额，这只占印度黄金市场的一小部分。
With most purchases made in the traditional way, demand for physical gold is not slowing.
由于大多数交易以传统方式进行，对实物黄金的需求不会放缓。
Indian buyers are also interested in competitive pricing and the ability to purchase gold in small amounts.
印度买家也对竞价以及允许小额买卖黄金感兴趣。
Gold-based offerings, such as Gold Accumulation Plans, let users buy and store gold in amounts as small as 0.1 grams. Many young people like these plans, along with other online investment programs.
以黄金为基础的产品，例如攒金计划，允许用户以少到0.1克的数量购买和储存黄金。很多年轻人喜欢这类计划以及其它在线投资项目。
In the past, everyone who wanted gold had to wait until they had saved a large amount of money to make a purchase. Joe Jacob, a 29-year-old businessman, recently bought 5 rupees worth of digital gold as a "trial investment." He said that buying digital gold is easier and safer than having gold physically in his home.
过去，大家想买黄金都必须等到攒够一大笔钱。29岁的商人乔·雅各布（Joe Jacob）最近购买了价值5卢布的数字黄金作为“试验性投资。”他说，购买数字黄金比在家里保存实物黄金更容易，也更安全。
Security experts said that because the gold is guaranteed to physically exist in a secured place, there was little risk of dishonest sellers.
安全专家表示，由于这些黄金保证实际保存在一个安全的地方，因此几乎不存在遇到不诚信卖家的风险。
And digital wallet providers believe interest will grow.
数字钱包提供商认为兴趣将会增长。
A company called Paytm is at the top of the crowded e-wallet business in India. It announced two new gold gift and savings plans this month.
一家名为Paytm的公司位居众多印度电子钱包企业的最前列。该公司本月宣布了两种新的黄金礼品和储蓄计划。
Gold purchases traditionally increase around the time when many marriage ceremonies are performed, experts say.
专家表示，在有许多婚礼举行的时期，黄金交易量通常就会大增。
Nitin Misra, senior vice president at Paytm, confirmed the rise. He confirmed that "about 40 percent of sales" happen during the "off-season" for buying gold in India.
Paytm公司高级副总裁Nitin Misra证实了这种增长。他证实，大约40%的销售额发生在印度购买黄金的淡季。
He said more than half of the company's users were repeat buyers, and 70 percent were younger than 35.
他说，该公司一半以上的用户是老顾客，并且70%的用户不到35岁。
The company said last year it planned to sell $200 million worth of gold during the 12-month period ending on April 1, 2018. But its reported sales appeared to fall short of that number.
该公司表示，去年该公司计划在截至2018年4月1日的12个月期间销售价值2亿美元的黄金。但其报告的销售额似乎不到该数字。
A competitor, e-wallet provider PhonePe, said the market will grow by 35 percent from 2015 to 2020.
作为竞争对手的电子钱包提供商PhonePe公司表示，从2015年到2020年，黄金交易市场将会增长35%。
Bangalore-based businessman P Vinoth says he likes to buy jewelry and other gold-covered objects from stores. He says e-wallets now offer another way to make purchases.
来自班加罗尔的商人P Vinoth表示，他喜欢从店铺购买珠宝和其它镀金物品。他说，电子钱包现在提供了另一种购物方式。
He used to invest in exchange-traded financial programs, he said, but "now I am using Paytm gold."
他说，他曾经投资场内交易的金融项目，但是“现在我开始使用Paytm黄金。”
I'm Susan Shand.
我是苏珊·珊德。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)