PayPal, one of the world’s largest digital payments company has started its domestic payment operations in India. Earlier, the American company has been offering only cross-border payments in India for close to a decade.
With the launch of PayPal in India, Indian consumers can now use PayPal to shop online at some of India’s most popular businesses. The company will offer Indians a single account for their domestic and cross-border transactions. PayPal will also offer protection along with six months refund window, free return shipping and it’s globally famous ‘one touch help’ to buyers and sellers in India.
The company will offer the one-touch option that skips login and enables a frictionless method to checkout through Facebook Messenger as well.
Rohan Mahadevan, SVP and General Manager PayPal for Asia Pacific, said,
“Both customers and merchants will be able to use the PayPal platform within India. We will also be providing one-touch option for making payments through Facebook Messenger.”
PayPal has tied up with around 20 merchants in India as of now. Some of the largest businesses they have tied up with are BookMyShow, Yatra, and MakeMyTrip etc. The digital payments firm is also looking to offer its other products like working capital to micro, small and medium enterprises in India as well.
“India’s digital payments journey is on a high growth trajectory and we are proud to be a part of it. We are excited about our prospects in a market that is highly inspirational and aspirational,” Rohan added further.
The Indian government’s demonetization move and push towards digital payments has led PayPal to the Indian market. The company also partnered with government and state-owned banks with a number of initiatives, including digital financial literacy and e-Tourist Visa programme. Citibank is their nodal partner and ICICI Bank is the acquiring partner of PayPal in India.
Just like other digital payments companies, PayPal could also launch its wallet in India. However, it is yet to take a call on this. “We are still examining the prepaid instrument guidelines,” said Anupam Pahuja, Managing Director for PayPal India. He added that the company may also launch its other services like consumer credit, peer-to-peer transactions, and remittances among others in future.
The digital payments company will take on some established players like Paytm, Amazon Pay and government’s own BHIM app in the Indian market. Its biggest rival in India could be Paytm which recently integrated BHIM UPI in its app to make direct payments from bank accounts.
