Paytm looks to focus on merchant base to drive next phase of growth

An area which is a big focus for serving merchants is IoT-enabled devices such as Sound Box.

Paytm is looking at a comprehensive set of offers for its merchant base in order to drive its next phase of growth, according to two top executives.

From Internet-of-Things (IoT)-enabled hardware solutions to its Paytm for Business app, the e-commerce and payments firm is engaging more and more with its merchant base.

“When it comes to P2P (peer-to-peer) and merchant payments, the focus is obviously more on merchant payment. The P2P side of the business is taken care of by the payments bank which is already doing very well. When it comes to merchant payments, you need to create an entire ecosystem, and that is actually the area that requires a lot of investment,” said Narendra Singh Yadav, vice-president at Paytm.

He added that Paytm’s people budget over the last financial year has gone up by 50 to 60 per cent, and while the geography of incremental recruitment may change, overall hiring for expansion of these businesses will continue to rise.

Earlier this month, Paytm rolled out several solutions to address the problems of small merchants — the Paytm for Business app, Paytm Business Khata, Paytm PoS (point of sale) device and Paytm Sound Box.

“Over the last three to four years, we have come across various merchant use cases, merchant needs, which we felt that we can fulfill through technology… So, if we can solve for them, there is always scope to solve upwards from there,” said Sajal Bhatnagar, vice-president, business at Paytm.

An area which is a big focus for serving merchants is IoT-enabled devices such as Sound Box. It is a voice-activated PoS machine which works on a SIM card embedded in the device, and is available to a merchant at one-time deposit of Rs 700 and a Rs 50 per month thereon.

Paytm Payments Bank resumes customer on-boarding after RBI's go-ahead

Company's founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma on Tuesday morning tweeted asking users to open saving accounts at the payments bank.

Paytm Payments Bank, which was asked to halt on-boarding of new customers six months ago, is learnt to have resumed the process for signing up new customers after receiving the go-ahead by the Reserve Bank of India.

Company’s founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma on Tuesday morning tweeted asking users to open saving accounts at the payments bank. “India’s most sincere bank is here. Welcome 2019 with revolutionary banking of Paytm Payments Bank,” Sharma tweeted an advertisement which has been placed in several newspapers.

Back in June, after an audit it had done, the RBI had found lapses in the KYC process employed by Paytm Payments Bank. It also raised concerns around the sharing of financial data of Indian users between One97 Communications, a majority foreign owned firm, and Paytm Payments Bank.

The Central Bank had also raised concerns on the credentials of Renu Satti, the then chief executive officer at Paytm Payments Bank, for leading the banking arm.

Satti later on stepped down from the role which was filled up by Satish Kumar Gupta who joined as managing director and CEO in last October. Gupta was earlier the chief product officer at National Payments Corporation of India.

Another player in the sector, Fino Payments Bank which was also barred by the RBI from opening fresh accounts resumed the process in October last year after a fresh directive.

Paytm Payments Bank, launched in November 2017, competes with Airtel Payments Bank, Fino Payments Bank and India Posts Payments Bank.

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Paytm violated KYC rules, RBI reveals reason for blocking payments bank biz

RBI revealed the payments bank failed to maintain the prescribed net worth limit of Rs 1 billion and the bank also violated the end-of-the-day Rs 100,000 limit per account.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revealed that Paytm was in violation of know-your-customer (KYC) rules while on-boarding users for its payments bank business for which it was banned from opening new accounts and e-wallets in August, The Times of India reported.

In an RTI reply, the RBI revealed the payments bank failed to maintain the prescribed net worth limit of Rs 1 billion and also violated the end-of-the-day Rs 100,000 limit per account.

Payments banks are not allowed to hold more than Rs 100,000 in each account.

The RBI also expressed unhappiness at the close relations between Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s One97 Communications and the entity that runs Paytm Payments Bank (PPB).

While Sharma owns a 51% stake, the rest is owned by One97 Communications and its subsidiaries.

Payments banks are expected to maintain an arm’s length relationship with promoter group entities.

Following the RBI ban on opening new accounts and e-wallets, the bank’s then CEO Renu Satti resigned.

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