Paytm Goes Global With Forex Card And Cash

Digital payments company Paytm has now ventured into forex services for top 20 international currencies.

Earlier in April 2018, Inc42 reported that Paytm is looking to venture into foreign exchange and cross-border remittance space.

The report further stated that Paytm will initially start with foreign exchange services, it may enter cross-border remittance services, both outward and inward, as well in near term, as per the media report.

In this space, Paytm will compete majorly with PayPal. Also, Singapore based InstaRem recently launched its cross-border outward remittance services in India in partnership with the DCB bank.

Abhishek Rajan, Vice President – Paytm said, “We have been witnessing an unprecedented growth for international travel bookings on our platform. We learned that our customers usually are in a need of a trusted and seamless forex service for themselves. We considered this as an important opportunity for us and are delighted to launch a convenient way of buying Forex Service on our platform. This is in line with our goal to be the most preferred destination for all travel needs.”

Paytm Forex Services

The multi-currency forex card and forex cash can be ordered on a real-time basis, which will be delivered on the users’ doorstep within 48 hours.

It can also be conveniently collected from any of the nearest partnered seller’s outlets across India. At present, the service is live on Paytm’s website and will soon be launched on its Android and iOS apps.

Further, the company allows the customers to lock-in the current rates at the time of placing an order by making a 2% partial payment with the flexibility to make the remaining payment at the time of delivery.

At the same time, the customer will not be paying any commission, service charge or hidden charges on their purchases. The forex card balance can be checked online and, in most ATMs, abroad.

Paytm forex cards can be used at almost all merchant outlets and ATMs across the world. The company enables customers to load up to $250K in a financial year into the forex card and buy up to $3000 as currency notes.

With the expansion of its portfolio services, Paytm has been expanding its payments use-cases across the various segments. At present, it a bouquet of travel services that includes flight, train, and bus ticket booking.

The company claims to have registered a surge in international travel, after which, the forex services are expected to complement the requirement of frequent travellers as they can now buy forex instantly along with their travel bookings.

T.C. Guruprasad, CEO & MD, CentrumDirect Ltd. said, “We are delighted to partner with a reputed player like Paytm. Currently, we serve over 1.5 Mn transactions annually and our alliance with Paytm will further strengthen our client base. Paytm users will be able to benefit from our competitive exchange rates, a wide range of currencies and a dedicated post-sales service team.”

Paytm’s Growing Footprint In India’s Ecosystem

Recently, the company announced that it has achieved an annual run rate of 5 Bn transactions and $50 Bn in gross transaction value (GTV).

To strengthen its product diversification, in May, Paytm had acquired Chennai-based online ticketing platform TicketNew to boost its entertainment arm.

Earlier this month, it invested $8.95 Mn (INR 61 Cr) in Entertainment arm and also gave its Paytm Inbox users access to free in-app content across categories such as Live TV, News, Cricket, Entertainment Videos, and Games on the go. In February, it had claimed to have achieved 5x growth in online ticket sales in 2017 by selling 52 Mn movie and events tickets.

Foreign Exchange Reserves in India averaged $ 214708.78 Mn from 1998 until 2018, reaching an all-time high of $426080 Mn in April of 2018 and a record low of $29048 Mn in September of 1998.