FreeCharge looks to get one million merchants

Company had rolled out a feature called 'on the go pin', which allows a user to complete a transaction even there is no internet or phone coverage

FreeCharge, digital payments platform of Snapdeal, on Tuesday said it had ramped up its buyout effort and was targeting to on-board one million merchants in 12 months. It had rolled out a feature called ‘on the go pin’, which allows a user to complete a transaction even there is no internet or phone coverage, said the company.

In the light of currency demonetisation, FreeCharge has seen a sustained 10X surge in the number of retail merchant sign-ups. In support of the government's initiative, FreeCharge has implemented a zero commission offer for new merchants. This represents an important and recurring saving for the merchants as credit card companies normally deduct 2-4% for each payment made through them. Since the announcement of zero commission, FreeCharge is on-boarding a new merchant every 30 seconds.

Food delivery, groceries, daily household payments are the largest part of current transactions.