Paytm’s New AI App Turns Everyday Payments Into Smart Insights

At its core, the update aims to do three things: make payments faster, make money management smarter, and give users greater control over their data. The rollout also extends certain capabilities to Non-Resident Indians across 12 countries, letting them link international numbers with NRE/NRO bank accounts for seamless UPI payments in rupees.

AI, but useful

Paytm’s new AI layer organises transaction history, tags spending, and surfaces insights without manual effort. Two practical examples stand out:

• A reimagined balance history uses AI tags to present a consolidated picture of balances across UPI-linked bank accounts — a quick answer to a problem many users face when juggling multiple bank apps.
• Monthly expenses are auto-categorised (shopping, bills, travel, utilities), giving users an immediate budget snapshot.

These features are pragmatic: they reduce the friction of daily money management for salaried professionals, gig workers, and small-business owners who juggle multiple accounts and payment flows.

Paytm has introduced "Gold Coins", a programme that rewards users with digital gold on each payment. The company positions this as a way to weave savings into routine spending — converting transactions into a small, accumulating asset. CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma framed the feature as a mainstreaming of small-savings behaviour:

"We are also giving gold coins on every payment, redeemable into real digital gold, so that every Paytm payment becomes a golden one. Built in India for every Indian, this is our next step in making payments truly smarter," said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO, Paytm.

For users who want a low-effort savings vehicle tied to everyday spending, Gold Coins could nudge habitual saving; for Paytm, it’s a retention mechanism that ties the rewards loop to transactional frequency.

Privacy and control: 'Hide Payments' and localised UX

Privacy received explicit attention. The app introduces 'Hide Payments', a feature that allows users to conceal selected transactions from their visible history — useful for shared devices, sensitive purchases, or simply cleaner records. That’s a direct response to a common consumer need and reframes data control as a product feature rather than a checkbox.

Other convenience upgrades lean practical and tactile: downloadable UPI statements in Excel/PDF, an advanced payment search that filters by multiple criteria, and a built-in calculator that lets users sum items (useful at groceries and pharmacies) without leaving the app.

Several additions remove small, repetitive frictions that compound over time. Magic Paste auto-fills bank and IFSC details copied from WhatsApp messages — a targeted fix for a common, real-world flow. Favourite Contacts shortens repeat payments. Paytm’s Receive Money widget lets professionals (doctors, trainers, drivers) accept payments straight from their home screen — saving a step and improving collection speed.

For merchants and micro-entrepreneurs, these tweaks can materially cut time-to-payment and reduce cognitive load during busy shifts.

UX flourishes and social features – Paytm Playback

The new Paytm scanner and UI animations aim for a visually richer scanning experience: improved recognition angles, automatic flashlight activation, and pinch-to-zoom for distant QR codes. On the lighter side, Paytm Playback converts recent spending into personalised AI-generated rap songs — a creative engagement loop that doubles as a money-awareness nudge.

NRI access and product reach

By enabling international mobile numbers to link with NRE/NRO accounts for UPI payments in Indian rupees, Paytm widened its potential user base among expatriates and travellers. That feature could smooth remittance-adjacent use cases and increase cross-border transaction frequency on the platform.

What this means for users and merchants

For consumers, the combination of automated finance tags, aggregated balances, downloadable statements, and privacy controls improves day-to-day budgeting and record-keeping. For small merchants and service providers, the Receive Money widget and streamlined scanner reduce friction in collections and improve checkout experiences.

From a platform perspective, Gold Coins create a new incentives channel — one that ties micro-savings to transaction volume. If users find genuine utility in the AI-driven insights and retain coins long enough to redeem, Paytm gains both transactional stickiness and a secondary product (digital gold) that can drive engagement economics.

The feature set balances utility and gamification; the challenge is execution. AI categorisation must be accurate to avoid user frustration. Privacy features like 'Hide Payments' should be transparent in their limitations (what gets hidden from whom and how it affects statements). Reward programmes need clear redemption mechanics to avoid perceived opacity.

Paytm’s redesign is a practical, product-led push to reduce everyday payment friction and add new retention levers. The mix of productivity tools, privacy controls, and a savings-oriented reward programme positions the app as a day-to-day finance assistant rather than just a payment conduit — provided the AI delivers reliable, transparent outcomes.