Mobile commerce company Paytm is planning a partnership with ICICI bank to launch virtual prepaid cards for its existing users. The partnership would allow its customers add money to their wallet at any ICICI branch. It will be a 16-digit, Paytm-ICICI Bank co-branded, virtual prepaid card that can be used at any retail organisation that accepts Visa, MasterCard and Rupay. It will go a long way towards having our wallet accepted across merchants,” said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and chief executive of Paytm.
The partnership is one of its kind between an online retailer and a full scale bank. Both the companies are optimistic with the lauch and it will be interesting to see how the card suffices the need of current online savy shopper.
Indian banks have understood that they have to be a part of the mobile payments platform, either organically or inorganically, to preserve continuity of business,” said Jayanth Kolla, partner at research and advisory firm Convergence Catalyst.
The biggest advantage for the user will be that with this card they can shop not only on Paytm but also on other ecommerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart. The additional service of loading money into Paytm Wallets at over 4,000 ICICI Bank branches is yet another initiative to popularize the usage of electronic payments in the country, We don’t need to integrate our payments platform with all merchants, and this, in turn, will give universal access to consumers, who can shop at any establishment that accepts, credit, debit and prepaid cards.” said Rajiv Sabharwal, executive director, ICICI Bank.
Vaibhav Attree 