FreeCharge adds another 15,000 merchants to its portfolio through Paynear

Digital payments platform FreeCharge on Thursday announced its partnership with Hyderabad-based payment solution provider Paynear, which will extend FreeCharge's acceptance to another 15,000 merchants across 22 states in India.

All 15,000 small-scale merchants and individual shop owners using Paynear solutions can now accept payments using FreeCharge. With this association, many more outlets across India covering categories like retail, hospitality, food and beverage, pharma, health, and beauty and many other business verticals will now accept FreeCharge.

Paynear provides mPOS solution to small-scale merchants - grocery shops, pharmacy etc through an mPOS reader to the merchant and an mPay app.

Using the same, merchants can accept payments using wallets, DC/CC and in EMI. FreeCharge customers can use their mobile phones to make payments and complete the transaction with a secure On-The-Go-Pin in less than 10 seconds. The advantage of On-the-go pin is that payment can be made using FreeCharge even in absence of internet and telecom connectivity.

FreeCharge already has a huge merchant base including leading retail chains like McDonald's, Barista, Cafe Coffee Day, Hypercity, Vishal Megamart, Pantaloons, Shoppers stop etc. Additionally, several smaller merchants including grocery stores, pharmacies, kirana stores accept payment using FreeCharge.

The partnership with Paynear will fuel the growth of these smaller merchants which form the backbone of Indian retail sector.

"The partnership will help FreeCharge in reaching out to SMEs and individual businesses and strengthening its presence further in the retail domain. We are pleased to partner with Paynear and hope to offer a better shopping experience to their customers through our innovations and solutions," said Chief Business Officer Freecharge, Sudeep Tandon.

"We are elated to partner with FreeCharge to enable all our merchants with their services on our Omni-Channel platform and will enable FreeCharge on both our online and offline merchants. With this facility all our present and future merchants would enjoy a seamless, cashless experience while accepting FreeCharge," said Chief Executive Officer PAYNEAR, Priti Shah.