Paytm Launches Recurring Payments To Boost Sales Of Subscription Platforms

Homegrown payments giant Paytm, on Monday (February 10), launched recurring payments option on Paytm Payments Gateway in partnership with Paytm Payments Bank. The new feature will help Paytm’s users to automatically pay for recurring payments for their subscription-based spends on platforms such as Hotstar, JioSaavn, Gaana and Zee5, utility recharges, and bill payments.

As many internet users have concerns sharing their debit or credit card details for recurring payments, the new feature will build a sense of trust among them and will help to boost the membership of subscription-based platforms.

The new feature, which is compliant to the guidelines laid out by the Reserve Bank of India, will also help the users to pay their monthly recurring payments for mutual funds and loan repayments.

For using this feature, users will have to give one-time approval at the time of joining the subscription to the merchants of their choice whom they want to pay at regular intervals. Information such as merchant name, subscription start date, frequency of debit, and the amount to be paid will be saved by Paytm for operating recurring payments.

Users will also get a notification at least a day prior to scheduled payment which will alert them to add respective funds to their wallets. Moreover, the notification will also have a link to cancel the recurring payment option which will help users either to discontinue the service or pay for the subscription with some other payment method.

Highlighting that rapid adoption of OTT platforms and digitisation of use cases such as bill payments and financial investments are fuelling the demand for subscription-based payments in the country, senior vice president of Paytm Puneet Jain said that the recurring payments facility will enhance customer convenience and help them avoid disruption of such services.

“It will also benefit the merchants with timely receipts of payments. This year, we are expecting 10x growth in this segment and processing recurring payments worth hundreds of crores,” Jain added.

As of now, users can make recurring payments of up to INR 2000 through their Paytm wallets. Moreover, Paytm is already offering recurring payments via debit and credit cards and net banking using NPCI’s E-Mandate solution. The payments company is also planning to launch UPI as a mode of recurring payments in the coming months.

Paytm claims that it is one of the preferred payment gateways for online merchants such as IRCTC, Dominos, Zomato, OYO, Grofers, Swiggy, Big Baske,t and Idea among others. The company claims that it processes 400 Mn transactions every month for its merchant partners.