Paytm works on brick-&-mortar avenues before bank kicks off

Mobile app may become Metro entry ticket

Ahead of the launch of its payments bank after June, digital wallet service provider Paytm is now getting into supermarkets, mass rapid transport and toll roads, among a wide range of brick-and-mortar avenues.

At present, the company's wallet is an established currency for instant payments for taxi rides, mobile phone recharges, direct-to-home television subscription renewals, money transfers, and transactions at small mom-and-pop stores. Many schools, colleges and petrol pumps are also joining the payment platform.

Aiming for a convergence between its wallet service and payments bank, the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company, backed by China's Alibaba group, is looking to expand its customer base from the present 120 million to 500 million by 2020.

GOING CASHLESS

• One97 Communications, which runs Paytm, is working on tie-ups with Metro rail service in Delhi & Mumbai
   
• For toll roads, the company is in talks with authorities to enable payments from the wallet service
   
• Tie-ups are in the works with at least 3 major supermarkets chains

One97 Communications, which runs Paytm, is learnt to be working on a number of tie-ups, including those with Metro services in Delhi and Mumbai. This means the Paytm app on your mobile phone will serve as your ticket to avail of the Metro service, doing away with the need to carry an access card.

Asked about the development, a company executive confirmed Paytm was running a pilot with a mass rapid transport company but refused to reveal its name. As for toll roads, the company is in talks with authorities in both North and South India to enable payments from the wallet service.

Besides, tie-ups were also in the works with at least three major supermarket chains in North, South and West India, an executive confirmed. The company already has tie-ups with restaurant chains like Pizza Hut, Costa Coffee, and a few petrol pumps. The idea is to add more customers from various points to the wallet service. These users are seen as potential account holders for the yet-to-be-launched payments bank.

"With every option of payments we give our customers, we encourage more people to adopt our wallet. When a customer downloads our wallet to do a couple of recharges, he opens up a whole new universe of payment options, marketplace, etc. These customers might potentially open accounts at our payments bank in the near future," said Nitin Misra, a vice-president at Paytm.

To broadbase the use of the wallet service for offline transactions - there are 120,000 offline merchants, mostly small grocers, on its platforms - the company plans to enhance the number of add-cash points where wallets can be recharged. From the present 67,000 points, the number could go up to 350,000 by the end of the year, if Paytm meets its lofty targets. Most of these points will be located in Tier-II and -III towns. The company gets a lot of tips from its biggest investor, Alibaba.

"There is a lot of knowledge transfer from Alipay (an Alibaba group company). Just like them, we are pushing to make more forms of offline payment options available through our wallet," Misra added.

After e-commerce marketplace, mobile wallets are one of the most lucrative verticals to play in, said market experts.

Not to be left behind in the race, Paytm's rival Freecharge is also working on making its wallet a popular alternative to cash.

"For us, our biggest competitor is cash. We want to provide a digital payment alternative at every possible opportunity. We would explore options to make Freecharge available even at installations like toll roads," said Govind Rajan, chief operating officer, Freecharge. At present, Freecharge has a tie-up with Mumbai Metro for access card top-ups.

While the Freecharge wallet has registered over 20 million users since its launch in September last year, its user base, according to the company, is over 100 million. This is when clubbed with the users of online marketplace giant Snapdeal, which had acquired Freecharge last year for $400 million.