Paytm
 | |
| Type of business | Private |
|---|---|
Type of site
| E-commerce |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Headquarters | Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Area served | India, Canada |
| Founder(s) | Vijay Shekhar Sharma |
| Key people | Vijay Shekhar Sharma (CEO) |
| Industry | Internet |
| Products | |
| Services | Online shopping, payment systems, digital wallets |
| Revenue | ₹814 crore (US$110 million) (FY 2017)[1] |
| Parent | One97 Communications Ltd |
| Website | paytm |
Paytm is an Indian e-commerce payment system and digital wallet company, based out of NOIDA SEZ, India.
Paytm is available in 10 Indian languages and offers online use-cases like mobile recharges, utility bill payments, travel, movies, and events bookings as well as in-store payments at grocery stores, fruits and vegetable shops, restaurants, parking, tolls, pharmacies and education institutions with the Paytm QR code.[2] California based PayPal had filed a case against Paytm in the Indian trademark office for using a logo similar to its own on 18 November 2016.[3] As of January 2018, Paytm is valued at $10 billion.[4]
As per the company, over 7 million merchants across India use this QR code to accept payments directly into their bank account.[5] The company also uses advertisements and paid promotional content to generate revenues.
Contents
History[edit]
Paytm was founded in August 2010 with an initial investment of $2 million by its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma in NOIDA, a region adjacent to India's capital New Delhi. It started off as a prepaid mobile and DTH recharge platform, and later added data card, postpaid mobile and landline bill payments in 2013.[6]
By January 2014, the company launched the Paytm Wallet, and the Indian Railways and Uber added it as a payment option.[7]It launched into E-commerce with online deals and bus ticketing. In 2015, it unveiled more use-cases like education fees, metro recharges, electricity, gas, and water bill payments. It also started powering the payment gateway for Indian Railways.[8]
In 2016, Paytm launched movies, events and amusement parks ticketing[9] as well as flight ticket bookings and Paytm QR.[10]Later that year, it launched rail bookings[11] and gift cards.
Paytm's registered user base grew from 11.8 million in August 2014 to 104 million in August 2015. Its travel business crossed $500 million in annualised GMV run rate, while booking 2 million tickets per month.[12]
In 2017, Paytm became India's first payment app to cross over 100 million app downloads.[13] The same year, it launched Paytm Gold,[14] a product that allowed users to buy as little as ₹1 of pure gold online. It also launched the Paytm Payments Bank[15][16] and ‘Inbox’, a messaging platform with in-chat payments among other products.[17] By 2018, it started allowing merchants to accept Paytm, UPI and Card payments directly into their bank accounts at 0% charge.[18][19] It also launched the ‘Paytm for Business’ app, allowing merchants to track their payments and day-to-day settlements instantly.[20] This led its merchant base to grow to more than 7 million by March 2018.
The company launched two new wealth management products - Paytm Gold Savings Plan and Gold Gifting to simplify long-term savings.[21][22] It launched into gaming and investments, partnering with AGTech to launch a mobile games platform Gamepind,[23] and setting up Paytm Money with an investment of ₹9 Crores[24][25] to bring investment and wealth management products for the Indians.[26]
Funding[edit]
In 2007, Paytm's parent One97 Communications Ltd. got its first institutional investor, venture capital firm SAIF Partners.
In March 2015, Paytm received its funding from Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group based in Hangzhou, China , after Ant Financial Services Group, an Alibaba Group affiliate, took 25% stake in One97 as part of a strategic agreement.[27] Soon after, it received backing from Ratan Tata, the MD of Tata sons.[28]
It subsequently launched a ‘Paytm for Business’ app in 10 regional languages of India, allowing these merchants to track their payments and day-to-day settlements conveniently.[20]In August 2015, the Reserve Bank of India granted 'in-principle' approval for Payments Bank to Paytm.[29] In 2017, the company launched the Paytm Payments Bank with the aim to bring banking and financial services access to half-a-billion un-served and under-served Indians.[15]
The same year, Paytm launched an app for Canadian mobile phone, cable, Internet, electricity and water bill payments.[30] In 2018, it set up Paytm Money to build investment and wealth management offerings for its users. This business was expected to bring direct mutual funds and money-market funds to the Indian masses.[24][31] In August 2016, Paytm raised funding from Mountain Capital, one of Taiwan-based MediaTek's investment funds at a valuation of over $5 billion.[32]
In May 2017, Paytm received its biggest round of funding by a single investor – SoftBank which also has a large stake in Alibaba, thus bringing the company's valuation to an estimated $10 billion.[33] In August 2018, Berkshire Hathaway invested $356 million for 3%- 4% stake in Paytm,[34][35] although Berkshire Hathaway confirmed that Warren Buffettwas not involved in the transaction.[36]
Investments and acquisitions[edit]
In 2013, Paytm acquired Plustxt for around $3 million. Plustxt was started by IIT Graduates Pratyush Prasanna, Parag Arora, Lokesh Chauhan and Lohit V that allowed fast texting messaging in any Indian Language.[37]
In 2015, Paytm invested $5 million in auto-rickshaw aggregator and hyperlocal delivery firm Jugnoo.[38] The funds were meant to enable Jugnoo to scale up its operations across the country, and improve its driver efficiency. It also acquired Delhi-based consumer behaviour prediction platform Shifu[39] and local services startup Near.in.[40]
In 2016, Paytm invested in logistics startups LogiNext and XpressBees.[41]
In April 2017, Paytm invested in healthcare startup QorQL[42] which uses artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to help doctors improve their productivity and quality of care, and enable patients to manage their health better. In July 2017, it acquired a majority stake in online ticketing and events platform Insider.in,[43] backed by event management company Only Much Louder (OML) and mobile loyalty startup MobiQuest. The same year, Paytm acquired Little & Nearbuy, and merged both.[44]
In June 2018 the company acquired the startup Cube26.[45]
Marketing[edit]
In July 2015, One97 Communications, the firm that owns the brand Paytm, acquired the title sponsorship rights for India's domestic and international cricket matches at home for a period of four years starting in August 2015.[46] The rights include sponsor branding of series with the title sponsor logo, designation as the title sponsor of the series, visibility at the stadium, and broadcast sponsorship rights. This also includes all BCCI domestic (Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy etc.) matches in India.
Previously, Paytm had acquired sponsorship rights during the 8th season of Indian Premier League. It has also served as an associate sponsor on Sony TV network (which has the telecast rights for IPL) and was the official partner of the IPL team Mumbai Indians. In March 2018, Paytm became the Umpire Partner of the IPL for five years.[47]
Paytm Payments Bank[edit]
In August 2015, Paytm received a license from Reserve Bank of India to launch a payments bank.[29] The Paytm Payments Bank is a separate entity in which founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma will hold 51% share, One97 Communications holds 39% and 10% will be held by a subsidiary of One97 and Sharma. The bank was officially inaugurated in November 2017 by the Indian Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley.[15] The inauguration ceremony featured prominent banking personalities including former RBI Executive Director PV Bhaskar, Saama Capital Director Ash Lilani and former Shriram Group Director GS Sundarajan.
It is set to launch over 100,000 banking outlets across India by end of 2018.[48]
Paytm Payments Bank has appointed veteran banker Satish Kumar Gupta as its new Managing Director and CEO.[49]
Paytm Mall[edit]
In February 2017, Paytm launched its Paytm Mall app, which allows consumers to shop from 1.4 lakh registered sellers.[50] Paytm mall is B2C model inspired by model of China's largest B2C retail platform TMall. For 1.4 lakh sellers registered products have to pass through, Paytm-certified warehouses and channels to ensure consumer trust. Paytm mall has set up 17 fulfillment centres across India and partnered with 40+ couriers. Paytm Mall raised $200 million from Alibaba Group and SAIF Partners in March, 2018.[51]
Automated Tax payments[edit]
Paytm has integrated functionality into its system, allowing for tax payments to be processed and then analysed by the NIC at eTaal Government Service.
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