- Paytm has launched a new payment device to target companies and fend off growing pressure from Google Pay, PhonePe, Walmart Inc., and Amazon Pay.
Paytm, India’s leading player in digital payments launched new products to target companies and fend off growing pressure from Google Pay, PhonePe, Walmart Inc., and Amazon Pay.
Paytm launched a stand that shows QR check-out codes that come with a calculator and USB charger, a so-called soundbox that offers transaction confirmation speech, inventory management streamlining cloud software, and a point-of-sale system with built-in scanner and print. The latter accepts debit and credit card payments, as well as Paytm and rival apps.
The new products represent a change in strategic focus to retailers, rather than transactions between individuals. Paytm’s brand became synonymous with digital payments in India after the government banned high-value currency notes at the end of 2016, a “demonetization” move aimed at stymying corruption, but the likes of Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc. are now aggressively expanding their competing services and beginning to impinge on their market share.
“Paytm is already bigger than all other players combined in mobile merchant payments,” said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm parent One97 Communications Ltd., during the product launch in Bangalore. “We account for about 5 billion of India’s total 9 billion merchant payments.”
Paytm raised $1 billion from SoftBank’s Vision Fund and other investors to compete against it in November. The investment cost $16bn for the startup. Bloomberg News previously reported that the company is also planning to raise $1 billion via debt, primarily to expand its scope to SMEs.
“In the end, entrepreneurs have to make money and as recent attempts to go public in the U.S. indicate, investors want to see a clear path to profitability,” said Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of Infosys Ltd., who launched Paytm’s all-in-one retail app. “Only then can startups take charge of their destiny.”
India won’t be a two-player market like China and will have at least four or five main rivals, Sharma said last year in an interview with the magazine Bloomberg Markets.
“Government initiatives like Zero MDR and encouraging digital acceptance for businesses have opened up new opportunities for digital payments in India. Today, we are announcing our All-in-One PG and Business Payment solutions for SMEs. These services will further deepen the importance of digital payments in their business and bring to them the advantages of the digital economy.”- Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO, Paytm
Digital payments are growing faster in India’s smaller cities than in the 10 biggest urban centers, Sharma said, as users pay for restaurant meals, movie tickets, gas, and grocery stores. More than 16 million merchants use Paytm’s business platform, both online and offline, including online brands such as ride-hailing service Uber, food delivery service Swiggy and budget accommodation provider Oyo.
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