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Can India's biggest mobile wallet challenge traditional banks in new move?

Paytm was one of 11 recipients of RBI's in-principle payments bank licence, reports Tech in Asia

Paytm
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Paytm sticker pictured at a petrol pump in New Delhi (Photo: Dalip Kumar)

Nivedita Bhattacharjee
India’s biggest digital wallet Paytm is finally on the way to becoming a bank.

Not a full-fledged bank, but a “Payments Bank” – mini-banks that cannot give loans or issue credit cards, but can take deposits.

In 2015, the government of India issued an approval to various conglomerates, telcos, as well as startups like Paytm to set “banks” up, aimed at granting millions of Indians access to basic banking.

On Tuesday, Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said the startup had received the final go-ahead from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) – the country’s central banking institution.

 “This is our chance to