Paytm reportedly keen to merge wallet with payments bank

Digital payments service provider Paytm, is reportedly planning to merge its wallet service with the newly incorporated Paytm Payments Bank.

According to an Economic Times report, One 97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm is awaiting regulatory approvals for the same.

“As per the directions of RBI, the company will transfer its wallet business to the newly-incorporated Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) after receipt of necessary approvals,” a Paytm spokesperson told ET.

Apparently, in August this year, the Noida-based company had registered two new entities — Paytm E-Commerce Pvt. Ltd. and Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. Paytm’s marketplace business will now be operated as a separate entity under Paytm e-Commerce which is widely speculated to assist as an entry pad for Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, into the Indian market.

Reportedly, Reserve Bank of India has already granted an ‘in-principle payments bank licence’ to Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm who holds the majority share in the payments bank.

Post demonetization, Paytm has had both its hands full with an all-round push towards a cashless economy. The company has registered a spike in its user base as well as in transactions. It claimed 5 million transactions per day and surpassed the average combined usage of credit and debit cards in India.