Paytm blends analytics, offline communication to woo small town merchants

Experts say Paytm - which claims to hold 80 per cent of the merchant digital wallet market in India at present - has much to gain being the first mover in these markets

After it announced that it was shifting its cash-back focus from peer-to-peer UPI transactions to offline merchant payments at retail kirana stores, Paytm saw the number of merchants joining the platform double in the past six months (200,000 versus 100,000) compared to the preceding six in smaller towns. It is now planning to increase this figure to a million in the next six months, says the company's senior-vice president Deepak Abbot. Kirana here is an umbrella term comprising almost any consumer-facing business, big or small, in any part of the country, says Abbot adding that acquisition is a relentless pursuit