Paytm crosses 50 million digital wallets

New Delhi: Mobile payment processor Paytm said on Monday that it now has over 50 million wallets on its platform and is expected to touch 100 million by 2015.

Paytm, run by One97 Communications Ltd, said that over 16 million of these 50 million wallets transact on Paytm in any month.

The company is reaching out to the masses, including autorickshaw and cab drivers who are adopting a wallet for a hassle-free payment method, said chief executive officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma said. Taxi hailing service Uber uses Paytm’s wallet to pay for rides in India.

Paytm allows inter-wallet money transfers and wallet-to-bank transfers where a customer can transfer the money stored in the wallet to a bank account.

Paytm clocks over 60 million transactions per month, with the average user transacting four times per month on its platform, the company said in a statement.

Digital or virtual wallets act as a holder of cash that resides in a mobile device or personal computer and can be used to purchase goods and services online. These can be loaded with cash through a mobile payment provider, online banking or through telecom operators. Digital wallets can be closed, semi-closed or open. Closed wallets allow consumers to purchase goods and services from only one seller. Semi-closed wallets allow shopping at multiple merchants in a marketplace.

Paytm is investing aggressively on advertising, brand building and is expected to spend close to ₹ 500 crore on marketing in the coming year. It recently tied up with popular Indian Premier League cricket tournament as an associate sponsor on Sony and is also the official sponsor of the Mumbai Indians team. Paytm will be spending close to ₹ 50 crore towards championship.

In February, Alibaba Group through its affiliate Ant Financial announced plans to buy a 25% stake in Paytm in a move to tap the fast growing mobile payments business in the country.