Paytm solidifies its merchant payments leadership with 21 lakh devices deployed in 2023 so far

India’s leading mobile payments and financial services company Paytm, which has pioneered digital payment has continued to be in a leadership position in the segment. The company added 4 lakh new merchants in June, who have subscribed to its premium devices including Soundbox and card machines, taking the total count to 79 lakh merchants.

So far till June 2023, Paytm has added 21 lakh merchants who are paying subscriptions for its devices. With the help of 79 lakh merchants from Rishikesh to Varanasi to Gujarat to metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi and from the smaller shopkeepers to the biggest enterprises across India who pay subscription fees to Paytm for payment devices.

With this, the consumer base has also expanded with over an average monthly transacting users (MTU) rising to over 9.2 crore at the end of June quarter.

The company’s management believes India has potential of at least 10 crore merchants and more than 50 crore payment users in the near future.

Analysts say Paytm is the dominant player in the merchant payment solutions with limited competition especially because of its successful Soundbox model.

“We find Paytm well positioned to continue to dominate the SME merchant landscape where the subscription model via Soundbox is improving merchant stickiness,” said BofA Securities in a report.

Paytm Soundbox is a good revenue generating model for the company as it earns revenue through subscriptions paid by merchants as the device provides real time audio confirmation of mobile payments. Higher adoption of Paytm Soundbox can be witnessed in every other shop across the country. It is worth noting that all these merchants pay a subscription fee for using the device that reads the payment receipt on every transaction.

“In the last six months, competitive intensity has fallen further with most Fintechs struggling due to funding winter, stricter RBI norms and declining discounts. Indeed, we see limited competition for Paytm in its soundbox business as well as in the BNPL/merchant lending space,” added the report.

Also, Paytm offers various payment solutions to different types of merchants who make digital transactions on a regular basis. For instance, for entry level merchants Paytm QR is and will always remain free.

Large retailers can also use Paytm POS device/card machine for accepting payments through mobile as well as card.

Meanwhile, online and omni-channel merchants can also use Paytm platform for accepting payments. Besides, the fintech platform also lets merchants advertise, sell gift vouchers and tickets to their customers through its app. 

The device reaches out to all corners of India with its multilingual Soundbox that supports multiple languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, and Odia.

The adoption of mobile payments is growing aggressively as payment is maturing for merchants and having a QR code has become essential and that’s where Paytm leads the game.

Consumer connect initiative