For India’s Paytm, Growing up Means Launching a Digital Bank
India-based Paytm is growing up fast. The online commerce platform, which launched its mobile wallet in 2014, has received permission from the Reserve Bank of India to operate a digital bank. The move comes as digital transaction rates in India—where the country’s popular 500 (US$7) and 1,000 (US$15) rupee notes were recently taken out of circulation—have increased as much as 1,000 percent since early November.
Paytm, which has more than 100 million users, and said it’s adding about 5 million users per day since those notes were discontinued. The Paytm Payments Bank will offer loans, wealth management and insurance, though it will have to forge partnerships to sell some of its products, according to reports from India-based media.
All that growth for Paytm hasn’t come without a cost: Late last year, U.S.-based PayPal reportedly filed a copyright suit against the firm, alleging that the blue color scheme of its logo, along with the fact that “pay” is the first word of the company’s name, is deceptive.
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