PayPal enters India as payment aggregator; Flipkart, Amazon not on board

Plans a slew of value-added services for Indian markets

Global digital payment giant PayPal Holdings announced the launch of its domestic operations in India as a "value-added payment aggregator".

Merchants offering PayPal will be able to process both local and global payments through PayPal, getting access to PayPal's 218 million customers around the world and in India through a single integration, said the company.

"Today is a landmark day for us at PayPal as we launch our domestic service in a market which has all the ingredients to become a true digital economy. India's digital payments journey is on a high growth trajectory and we are proud to be a part of it. We are excited about our prospects in a market that is highly inspirational and aspirational," Said Rohan Mahadevan, CEO PayPal Private Limited and SVP & general manager (APAC) at PayPal.

He added that the timing for introducing the domestic services was determined based on massive demand for reliable payment solutions following demonetisation.

While the company has shared a list of large players who will be offering PayPal services on their platforms, e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart are not listed at present. The company has, however, expressed keen interest in bringing them on board.

Features including one touch, buyer and seller protection, refunded return and a 180-days dispute resolution window are just some of the benefits available at launch, setting the stage for a differentiated payments experience. PayPal says they will leverage the quality of their service to drive usage rather than discounts and incentives.

PayPal has set up a customer service centre in India with multi-lingual support capabilities and on-ground sales team to drive customer engagement and education. The Indian government's recent push towards digital payments has also led PayPal to partner with government and state-owned banks on a number of initiatives, including digital financial literacy programme and eTourist Visa, said the company in a note.

"Developing economies are strongly driven by aspirations and no opportunity is bigger for us than India. We will be targeting the global Indian and have partnered with merchants catering to this segment giving them a truly global seamless payments experience," said Anupam Pahuja, country manager and managing director of PayPal India. 

PayPal is currently examining Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) license requirements. The company claims to service a third of B2C export transactions in India currently.