Paytm Payments Bank Awarded by Govt of India for Lowest Technical Decline Rates in UPI

Paytm Payments Bank awarded by Government of India for lowest technical decline rates in UPI; continues to lead in P2M payments as a beneficiary & acquiring bank

Wins the award in recognition of the superfast and secure transactions powered by Paytm UPI

India’s homegrown Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. (PPBL) has won the Shrestha Puraskar (श्रेष्ठ पुरस्कार) at Digital Payments Ustav by the Digidhan Mission, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for maintaining one of the lowest average technical decline in UPI transactions. The award is a recognition of the superfast and secure transactions powered by Paytm UPI. This award was given by Sh. Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology.

PPBL has once again outperformed all major banks in India in terms of the success rate of UPI transactions. It has one of the lowest technical decline rates because of its robust in-house technology infrastructure.

In UPI, the Bank is leader in P2M (Person to Merchant) transactions, with the highest merchant partners in its ecosystem. Paytm Payments Bank continues to be a leader in UPI as the largest beneficiary bank, acquiring bank and a leading remitter bank.

Paytm Payments Banks drives UPI transactions on its own without any third party app provider. It leads digital payments in the country driven by merchant payments and increased adoption across small cities and towns. Both customers and merchants are increasingly preferring to use Paytm Payments Bank for sending and receiving money via UPI, given its superior in-house technology that ensures the fastest payments and highest success rates.

Paytm Payments Bank Spokesperson said, “As leaders in UPI P2M payments as the largest beneficiary bank, acquiring bank and a leading remitter bank, we strive to offer superfast and secure UPI money transfers. Our focus on innovation has ensured that we have the lowest technical decline rates in UPI to offer a superior payment experience to users. The recognition from the Government of India is proof of our commitment to innovation and contributing to financial inclusion.”

Paytm Payments Bank continues to be the leader in UPI. According to the latest report by NPCI, as a beneficiary bank PPBL has registered over 1,765.87 million transactions and as a remitter bank, it has registered more than 389.61 million transactions in January 2023.

About Paytm Payments Bank:

Paytm Payments Bank has the largest scale in India, in terms of mobile transactions. The bank offers the best-in-class digital payment and banking experience with its mobile-only savings accounts, current accounts, fixed deposits with partner banks, and payment instruments like wallets, UPI, FASTag among other services to Indians. The bank is the largest UPI beneficiary bank, with the lowest technical decline rate amongst beneficiary and remitter banks. It is also the largest acquirer and issuer of FASTags in India.

To know more please visit: https://www.paytmbank.com/

Paytm Payments Bank to Help Identify Rogue Apps that could Trigger Fraud Transactions

Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) on Monday said it has added a new feature that analyses "rogue" apps on user devices that may trigger fraudulent transactions and advises users to uninstall such apps.

It is also leveraging artificial intelligence to immediately identify and block suspicious activities, and is undertaking periodic awareness drives throughout the country to educate users about fraud calls and SMSes, the bank said.

"PPBL is taking major counter measures to safeguard user accounts. The bank using the latest cybersecurity tools has introduced a host of important updates. The brand new feature analyses 'rogue' apps on user devices which might trigger fraudulent transactions and advises users to uninstall them," it said in a statement.

PPBL MD and CEO Satish Gupta said the bank is putting all efforts and resources into ensuring every user transaction is safe and secure on its platform.

"This security feature will scan the apps installed on the user device and will pop-up a security alert whenever a dangerous app is found that may put the users' accounts at risk. No transactions will be possible until the user uninstalls that fraudulent app," he added.

Gupta said PPBL has already seen cases where these features have stopped attempts to defraud customers.

"We will continue to spread awareness about scams and educate our users on ways to protect themselves from such scenarios," he added.

The statement added that PPBL is using leveraging AI to instantly detect suspicious transactions.

"Depending on the identified threat level of a transaction, the AI either slows it down or completely blocks the payment from getting completed. The AI has been specifically designed keeping in mind the patterns of the various scams being run by fraudsters and is, therefore, able to combat most attacks on user accounts in real-time," it added.

The statement said the bank has a dedicated team of over 200 cybersecurity experts to ensure round the clock security of every user transaction.

The teams closely work with all state and central police forces and cyber-cells as well as telecom companies to detect, prevent and report fraudulent transactions for immediate action, it added. PTI SR

Scam Calls: Paytm Payments Bank Submits List of 3,500 Phone Numbers to MHA, Others

Paytm Payments Bank (PPB) on Friday said it has submitted to the home ministry, Trai and CERT-In a list of 3,500 phone numbers used to make scam calls to dupe consumers in the country.

PPB claimed that it has also filed an FIR against these people with Cyber Cell for an immediate action to stop this scam.

"In a series of meetings with officials from the Trai, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and CERT-In, PPB charted out and explained the various phishing and fraudulent mobile phone SMS and call scams affecting digital payments users.

"In its discussions with the authorities, the company has made it clear that these frauds erode the trust of millions of Indians," PPB said in a statement.

It added that banks like PPB can identify the phone numbers of these fraudsters and prevent future frauds and scams with proactive involvement of law enforcement, regulators and telecom operators.

"PPB has submitted a comprehensive list of 3,500 phone numbers to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), MHA, and CERT-In, which have been actively involved in SMS and call scams. To further ensure the security of digital payments users, PPB has filed an FIR against these criminals with Cyber Cell for an immediate action to stop this scam," it said.

CERT-In a functional organisation under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology with the object of securing Indian cyber space.

PPB - in its conversations with the authorities - has emphasised the need for timely and effective legal action to end this menace with the involvement and support of telecom operators, the statement added.

"We are extremely happy to see the proactiveness shown by Trai and MHA in this regard... We are committed to ensuring that we block as many fraudsters and will continue to enhance our app security so that there's no stone left unturned towards safe digital payments experience," PPB MD and CEO Satish Gupta said.

PPB said these organisations have also been given a list of SMS shortcodes where the company's brand name has been falsely used in the sender identification details.

It said fraudsters send SMSes with shortcodes "PYTM" to gain trust of the user, and then defraud them.

A list of shortcodes that need to be blocked as well as the company's correct header 'iPaytm' has been submitted with Trai. The company said it has requested Trai to prohibit telcos from using/selling any shortcode similar to the word 'Paytm' such as 'PYTM'.

"Telecom operators should be directed to have stringent control on the issuance of shortcodes for bulk messages to companies. There is also a need to blacklist companies permitting such SMSes to be sent," Gupta said. PTI SR

RBI Ordered PayTM Payment Bank to Stop Enrolling New Customers and Remove its CEO

Since 20 June 2018, Paytm has stopped enrolling new customers which was due to the fact that India's central bank RBI had mandated the company to do so. RBI has made certain observations about the process Paytm Payments Bank follows in acquiring new customers and its adherence to KYC norms, reported Live Mint, citing four people privy to the matter.

“RBI has directed Paytm Payments Bank to stop onboarding of new customers with immediate effect,” said one of the four people.

According to the report, Paytm is modifying its "account opening process to introduce ‘current accounts’ due to which new account creation process has been paused".

In addition to this, RBI has also asked Paytm to remove Renu Satti as chief executive of the payments bank following the central bank’s objections about her ability to lead a banking services firm. According to a certain protocol, RBI requires a person to be a banker in order to become the chief executive of a payments bank.

However, PayTM officials has backed Renu Satti as the firm's CEO stating that her appointment was made vide an official approval from RBI, on 19th May 2017.

On 28 July, the PTI reported that Satti has resigned and will now head Paytm's new retail initiative. Paytm is yet to fill the position of the payment bank’s CEO.

Going forward, RBI also observed that Paytm should have better security mechanisms to store customer data and asked Paytm Payments Bank to have an office separate from that of its parent firm,One97 Communications Ltd. The company recently moved its Paytm Payments team to a new facility in Noida.

It may recalled that, in May this year a sting operation alleged that PayTM has given its users’ data without their consent.

Paytm Payments Bank is a separate entity, with 51% owned by Vijay Shekhar Sharma and the rest held by One97 Communications.

Recently, it was also reported that Japan's SoftBank is close to announce its new mobile digital payments service for Japan in collaboration with its Indian portfolio startup PayTM. SOftbank is expected to launch the payment service at the end of 2018.

One97 Communications, the parent of Paytm, has raised over $2 billion since its inception, and is currently valued at over $10 billion.

[Top Image - Asianage.com]

RBI Ordered PayTM Payment Bank to Stop Enrolling New Customers and Remove its CEO

Since 20 June 2018, Paytm has stopped enrolling new customers which was due to the fact that India's central bank RBI had mandated the company to do so. RBI has made certain observations about the process Paytm Payments Bank follows in acquiring new customers and its adherence to KYC norms, reported Live Mint, citing four people privy to the matter.

“RBI has directed Paytm Payments Bank to stop onboarding of new customers with immediate effect,” said one of the four people.

According to the report, Paytm is modifying its "account opening process to introduce ‘current accounts’ due to which new account creation process has been paused".

In addition to this, RBI has also asked Paytm to remove Renu Satti as chief executive of the payments bank following the central bank’s objections about her ability to lead a banking services firm. According to a certain protocol, RBI requires a person to be a banker in order to become the chief executive of a payments bank.

However, PayTM officials has backed Renu Satti as the firm's CEO stating that her appointment was made vide an official approval from RBI, on 19th May 2017.

On 28 July, the PTI reported that Satti has resigned and will now head Paytm's new retail initiative. Paytm is yet to fill the position of the payment bank’s CEO.

Going forward, RBI also observed that Paytm should have better security mechanisms to store customer data and asked Paytm Payments Bank to have an office separate from that of its parent firm,One97 Communications Ltd. The company recently moved its Paytm Payments team to a new facility in Noida.

It may recalled that, in May this year a sting operation alleged that PayTM has given its users’ data without their consent.

Paytm Payments Bank is a separate entity, with 51% owned by Vijay Shekhar Sharma and the rest held by One97 Communications.

Recently, it was also reported that Japan's SoftBank is close to announce its new mobile digital payments service for Japan in collaboration with its Indian portfolio startup PayTM. SOftbank is expected to launch the payment service at the end of 2018.

One97 Communications, the parent of Paytm, has raised over $2 billion since its inception, and is currently valued at over $10 billion.

[Top Image - Asianage.com]

Paytm's Parent One97's Revenue Grows To ₹829 Cr; Cuts Employee Benefits To Half

Indian e-wallet firm Paytm's parent, One97 Communication saw its revenue grew to Rs 829 crore for the financial year 2017, up from Rs 598 crore in the year before, even as its losses narrowed for the same period.

Last year, Paytm's parent split into two separate entities -- Paytm Payments Bank and Paytm E-commerce -- to comply with RBI’s regulatory requirements and transferred its primary wallet business to its bank. Paytm E-commerce had paid Rs 620 crore to One97 as part of the transfer of assets which has helped the parent reduce losses.

As Paytm benefited from the restructuring, the parent firm trimmed its losses to Rs 900 crore from Rs 1,497 crore, in the financial year 2015-16, as per filings made with Ministry of Corporate Affiars, said the TOI report citing filings sourced from Paper.vc.

Moreover, Paytm also managed to reduce its expenses by 14% from the previous financial year to Rs 1,775 crore as it cut its marketing costs by 30% for the same period. Its parent firm One97 also halved its employee benefits to Rs 143 crore from Rs 334 crore.

For financial year 2016-17, Paytm Payment Bank reported a loss of Rs 30 crore even as its e-commerce entity saw its losses trim to Rs 229 crore from Rs 318 crore the previous year. The company said because of its transfer of physical goods, online marketplace to Paytm e-commerce through business transfer agreement with effect from March 28, 2017, the loss of Rs 229 crore has been shown separately as loss from discontinued business in its filing.

Paytm's founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma's annual salary remains relatively unchanged. Filings for 2016-17, show he was drawing about Rs 3 crore, at par with his salary in 2015-16. The year before, he was drawing Rs 2.3 crore annually.

Paytm, one of the biggest spenders on marketing and advertising in the online payments space, has been on a customer acquisition drive with its new payments bank and hopes to cash in on the government's push for a digital India. With the company set to invest as much as Rs 5,000 crore in its payment bank in the next three years to enhance payment facilities for customers, Paytm has said it stands to gain from the surge in UPI and IMPS transactions. According to an earlier filing, the company plans to become operationally profitable by financial year 2019, as per a valuation paper commissioned by Paytm and prepared by Deloitte Haskins and Sells.

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.

In August 2015, Paytm received a license from Reserve Bank of India to launch a payments bank. The Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma hold 51% share in Paytm Payments Bank while One97 Communications holds 39% and 10% held by a subsidiary of One97 and Sharma.

10 Mn Customers Sign Up For Paytm Payments Bank Account In The Beta Launch

Paytm Payments Bank recently launched mobile-bank with zero charges on all online transactions and no minimum balance requirement. The bank is focused on driving financial inclusion by bringing half a billion Indians into the mainstream economy. Paytm Payments Bank Chairman, Vijay Shekhar Sharma owns 51% stake in the company, with the remaining share owned by Indian firm One97 Communications Pvt Ltd.

Paytm played an important role in democratizing access to digital payments for hundreds of millions of Indians ranging from small kirana store-owners and daily wage laborers to large retailers. As millions of customers have experienced the power of convenient digital payments within the large Paytm ecosystem, they have been waiting eagerly for the Paytm Payments Bank launch. This has led to over 10 million customers signing up for a Paytm Payments Bank account in the beta launch.

Owned and governed solely by Indians, Paytm Payments Bank was launched on May 23, 2017, with Renu Satti as its MD & CEO and is headquartered in the National Capital Region, India.

Commenting on the development, Renu Satti said, “We are glad to receive this opportunity to build first-of-its-kind banking services and serve our nation. We will bring unbanked and underbanked fellow Indians to the mainstream economy and help them become a part of the financial services ecosystem. We are excited about the incredible response to our consumer beta launch and are looking forward to further expanding our services.”

Paytm Payments Bank offers Savings Accounts with no minimum balance requirement and a free RuPay Digital Debit Card. This card comes with a free insurance cover up to Rs. 2 Lacs in case of death or permanent total disability. KYC customers can open a PPB account instantly on their smartphone. The company is also looking to partner with Universal Banks to offer additional financial services to its customers to roll out a full bouquet of banking services that include term deposits, retail & SME loans.

The bank’s board has Indian stalwarts such as former RBI Executive Director PV Bhaskar, former Shriram Group Director GS Sundarajan and Saama Capital Director Ash Lilani. Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Chairman – Paytm Payments Bank) and Renu Satti (MD & CEO - Paytm Payments Bank) are the other directors.

Earlier this month, Sharma and Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications have infused Rs. 60 crore more into the Paytm Payments Bank. Paytm Payments Bank aims to build a new business model in the banking industry that is focused on bringing financial services to hundreds of millions of unserved or underserved consumers across India.

Paytm Payments Bank Joins UPI Bandwagon

In line with the government’s initiative to build digital payments in the country, Paytm Payments Bank is all set to adopt Unified Payments Interface (UPI) by August.

This will enable consumers and merchants to transact with ease on its banking platform by using a virtual payment address issued by the bank. With 50 banks already live on the platform, Paytm Payments Bank will be the latest one to join the UPI bandwagon.

Commenting on the development, Renu Satti, CEO, Paytm Payments Bank, said “ We will soon enable the seamless creation of UPI IDs on our platform so that users can send and receive money to each other, and for merchant payments. It will be one of the most important components of our payments platform and enable us to bring cost-efficient digital payment services to every Indian. Our significant consumer base makes us well-positioned to become a large issuer of UPI handles, driving its adoption in the country.”

Launched in May 2017, Payments Bank is all set to open 31 branches and 3,000 customer service points in a year. The recently launched bank with zero charges on online transactions and no minimum balance requirement has been designed to help achieve financial inclusion and bring half a billion Indians into the mainstream economy.

Run and operated by One97 Communications, Paytm founder and CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma owns a majority stake in the company, with the remaining share owned by One97 Communications Pvt Ltd.

The Paytm Payments Bank aims to build a new business model in the banking industry that is focused on bringing financial services to hundreds of millions of unserved or underserved consumers across India.

Paytm Payments Bank is aiming to replicate the success in the banking sector and further drive the adoption of digital transactions.

Paytm Achieves Over 1 Mn Train Ticket Bookings In A Month, Eye 3x Growth This Financial Year

M-commerce firm, Paytm has announced today that it is booking over 1 million train tickets in a month.It further boosts that it has become India’s largest train tickets booking platform after IRCTC making it a preferred platform for users to plan their journeys and book train, air, bus and hotels instantly.

The company launched online train ticket bookings in partnership with IRCTC in October of 2016 to become an integrated platform for all travel bookings. Currently, 90% of the train ticket bookings on Paytm are done through the mobile platform.

Commenting on the development, Abhishek Rajan, Vice President, Paytm said, “Our partnership with IRCTC is a major leap towards bringing the trusted and convenient Paytm experience to train tickets booking. Emerging as the country’s largest platform in train ticket bookings is a definitive step towards our goal of building the country’s largest travel booking platform.”

In recent months, Paytm has witnessed exponential growth in its travel vertical with more than 10 million tickets sold in FY 2017. This year, the company is aiming to be the country’s largest destination for all travel booking needs. The travel marketplace team is headquartered in Bengaluru and has scaled up to 150+ members in the last 12 months. It is looking to ramp up to 250 in next two-quarters.

In May 2017, Paytm had unveiled its Payments Bank, becoming the third payments bank in the country, after Airtel and India Post.

Paytm Unveils Payments Bank, Plans To Open 500 Mn Accounts By 2020

Finally, after waiting for one long year Paytm has unveiled its Payments Bank, becoming the third payments bank in the country, after Airtel and India Post.

It will offer customers a 4 percent annual interest rate which the lowest among the three payments banks that is, Airtel offers about 7.3 percent interest and India Post about 5.5 percent annually. Apart from offering its customers cashbacks on deposits, Payment bank will offer zero charges on all online transactions and no minimum balance requirement.

Commenting on the development, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Chairman, Paytm Payments Bank said, “RBI has given us an opportunity to create a new kind of banking model in the world. We are proud that our customer deposits will be safely invested in government bonds, and be used for nation building. None of our deposits will be converted into risky assets”.

Having its first branch in Noida Paytm plans to open 31 branches and 3,000 customer service points in a year. The company is setting up KYC centres across India to complete KYC for customers and make them eligible for a Payments Bank account.

Paytm Payments Bank accounts will initially be available on an invite-only basis. In the first phase, the company will roll out its beta banking app for its employees and associates. Paytm customers can request an invite by going to www.PaytmPaymentsBank.com or on the Paytm iOS app.

Every customer to open a Payments Bank account will get a cashback of Rs. 250 as soon they bring deposits of a total of Rs. 25,000 in their bank account. The account will have zero balance requirement and every online transaction (such as IMPS, NEFT, RTGS) will be free of charge. For savings accounts, the company would also offer an interest of 4% per annum. The company will also offer current accounts to its millions of merchants.

“ Our ambition is to become India’s most trusted and consumer-friendly bank. Leveraging power of technology, we aim to become the preferred bank for 500 million Indians by 2020,” said Renu Satti, CEO, Paytm Payments Bank.

Run and operated by One97 Communications, Paytm founder and CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma owns a majority stake in the company, with the remaining share owned by One97 Communications Pvt Ltd. The Paytm Payments Bank aims to build a new business model in the banking industry that is focused on bringing financial services to hundreds of millions of unserved or underserved consumers across India.

The company is aiming to replicate this success in the banking sector and further drive cashless transactions with the Paytm Payments Bank. The current Paytm Wallet will move to the Paytm Payments Bank in the same capacity, i.e. KYC Wallet as KYC Wallet and minimum detail KYC Wallet as minimum detail KYC Wallet. Users will continue to be able to use their Paytm Wallet in the same manner as before.