Paytm, the widely popular digital payments platform has now become a global topic of interest and study. Indian Research Centre (IRC) of Harvard Business School (HBS) has recently published a case study describing the transformation of digital wallet Paytm from a recharge platform to a payments bank platform.
The case study has been titled ‘Paytm: Building a Payments Network’ and will be available for teaching purposes inside and out of Harvard. Professor Sunil Gupta, co-author of the study commented on Paytm as under,
Paytm is revolutionizing payments in India and it is a shining example of India’s digital future.
Apart from Professor Sunil Gupta, Edward W. Carter Professor of Business Administration at HBS has contributed towards Paytm’s case study. Carter also chairs the General Management Program at Harvard and is an indispensable asset for the IRC.
Prior to Paytm, Professor Sunil Gupta in hand with Professor Das Narayandas had published a study for the Indian e-commerce platform — Flipkart. The study focused on the company’s withdrawal from its logistics unit Ekart as a separate company and decision to shift towards a marketplace model in April 2016.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO of Paytm expressed his joy over the global presence Paytm has now attained and said,
For us, the journey to enable fellow countrymen with digital payments and become a part of financial inclusion has only started right now. It is truly a privilege to have it become a part of the curriculum offered by the prestigious institute.
Paytm is constantly working towards the digitization of the nation and aims to bring half a billion Indians to the mainstream economy. The company received formal permission from RBI and launched its Payments Bank about a month ago.
The Payments Bank business of the company has further received an investment of more than Rs. 220 crore, out of which nearly 50% of the funds have been poured in by Vijay Sharma. Moreover, the company is currently engaged in building a debit card-like service to help users in remote areas can also gain access to the Payments Bank.
Talking about Indian Research Centre, the centre was established in 2006. The Mumbai-based research centre studies emerging trends in the country along with delivering the much-needed funds to the faculty to carry out the surveys. IRC presently concentrates on businesses established in South Asian region and supported numerous case studies and HBS research projects.
