Paytm
Image: Wikimedia Commons // The image has been modified.

Paytm, one of India’s leading digital financial services companies, on Monday, said that it is expanding its Postpaid service to Android POS devices and its new Mini App Store. According to the company, its Postpaid service has hit 7 million consumers mark and is on its way to registering a total of 15 million users by the end of the current financial year.

Paytm spokesperson said, “Paytm offers a range of funding sources to its customers – Paytm UPI, Paytm Wallet, Paytm Payments Bank account, Debit card, Credit card and net banking. Overall, the transactions through these funding sources have grown over 20% in the month of October. Person-to-merchant (P2M) constitute over 70% of the total transactions.

Paytm Postpaid is a credit service offered in partnership with two leading NBFCs. Paytm users can already use this service with recharges & bill payments on Paytm, online payments on internet apps and also for buying home essentials from kirana stores. It works similar to how a traditional credit card would work, except, it is all digital and Paytm says that people without a credit score can also apply for the service.

The company is now expanding this service to support its Android point-of-sale (POS) devices, which are payment terminals used in stores at checkout counters. The company said that In preparation for the upcoming festive season, Paytm Postpaid is in the process of integration with over 2 lakh Paytm’s Android POS devices. This will enable any store with Paytm POS devices to allow Paytm users to make payments through its Postpaid service, making the credit service more useful than ever before.

The company is also expanding this service to its new Android Mini App Store, which came as a response to Google’s monopoly over its Android app store, not too long after Paytm was temporarily banned from the Play Store.  Now the Paytm Postpaid service is going to integrate with its Mini App Store. Users can buy an app right away with the Postpaid service, and then repay the amount later. Since users do not have to worry about their bank balance, this can lead to increased purchases on the app store and subsequently, help app developers earn.

The Postpaid service currently comes in three tiers: Lite, Delite and Elite. Lite has a credit limit of INR 20,000 per month, while Delite and Elite offer credit limits from INR 20,000 to INR 1,00,000 per month respectively. The company says that there are no additional convenience charges on the spends.

The company said that after the expansion of the service, Paytm Postpaid can be used for daily purchases of groceries, milk, and other home essentials from neighborhood Kirana stores, as well as high value shopping at popular retail destinations such as Reliance Fresh, Haldiram, Apollo Pharmacy, Croma, etc. It has also been extended to various bill payments facilities available on Paytm, shopping on Paytm Mall, and online payments at internet apps such as Uber, Myntra, Lenskart and others.

“We aim to expand our services to as many businesses that enable consumers to benefit from the convenience of buy now and pay later. Our latest product is another step towards becoming as ubiquitous as credit cards.” said Bhavesh Gupta, CEO – Paytm Lending.

Paytm was founded in 2010, and it initially became popular as a digital wallet. The company has since expanded and has grown rapidly. It now offers various services within its Paytm app and also outside it. Some of them include its e-commerce platform call Paytm Mall, and an online baking solution called Paytm Payments Bank. The company has established itself as one of the trusted payment platforms in India. With the expansion of the Postpaid service, it is likely to see a rise in the user base, especially with the current pandemic.