In a bid to expand its offline banking network, Paytm Payments Bank is planning to invest Rs 3,000 crore. The bank is inviting retail and mom-and-pop stores for creating a network of more than 100,000 consumer banking touch points over three years.
“Mom and pop” usually refers to stores or businesses that are way smaller and independent than larger corporations.
“Paytm Payments Bank has committed Rs3, 000 crore over the next three years to expand offline distribution network by allowing trusted local partners to act as potential cash-in and cash-out points,” said the bank.
“These specially branded outlets will play a key role in bringing banking access to smaller cities and towns by ensuring customers find it easy to locate points near them,” it added.
The bank recently unveiled 3,000 such outlets called as ‘Paytm ka ATM’ across Delhi –National Capital Region (NCR), Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, and Aligarh.
Under this programme, Paytm will train personnel at local stores along with required authority and infrastructure for dispensing funds to the savings account holders of the bank.
The outlets will also help the users in linking their Aadhaar credentials with their Paytm accounts, allowing more customers to get KYC-verified (know your customer) swiftly.
Apart from the listed services, the other services will continue to be online. In addition to this, Paytm has added a separate ‘Bank’ tab on the app that helps the users to keep a tap on payments history, digital debit card, passbook, help, and support, among other things.
“The Paytm Ka ATM banking outlets is our step towards ensuring every Indian has access to banking facilities. This will enable our customers to visit their trusted neighbourhood outlet to open their bank account, deposit and withdraw cash, in addition to getting their Aadhaar-linked. We believe this hyper-local model of banking will play a crucial role in enabling hundreds of millions of under-served and un-served customers to gain access to quality banking services,” Renu Satti, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Paytm Payments Bank.
