Through the merchant store, users can access a wide range of traditional financial products, from home and life insurance policies through to investment assets and products. Indeed, given its rapid rate of growth and adoption in India, the app is quickly becoming the top distribution channel for financial services in the country. But they are often left out of the system because they are not on anyone's radar.” “People who work in the informal economy or in rural areas have pretty much the same financial services needs as everyone else. “We see Paytm as a way to bring half a billion unbanked Indian consumers into the formal banking system,” noted Harinder. In fact, as Harinder is quick to note, Paytm is providing a pivotal intersect between India's population and the established banking order. While it may seem as if Paytm is taking on the traditional banking system, it is not. Its Paytm Gold Savings provides customers with a long-term savings vehicle. It has a 'fractionalized asset ownership' product that allows customers to pay as little as 1 rupee for a fraction of a stock or asset.
For example, Paytm offers customers the ability to insure a wide range of purchases - including bus trips and movie reservations. Many of those categories involve what is traditionally seen as financial services.
At last count, the platform boasted more than 15 million merchants across more than 200 different categories of service.
Users of Paytm's app have access to a stunning array of goods and services. “Our typical customer comes to us because of a needs-based reason - they need to take a bus or pay a bill - but over time, they start to discover that we can actually help them solve a much wider range of needs, from paying their kids' tuition fees through to finding a great deal on an item they really need,” added Harinder. And it launched an e-marketplace where customers can find almost any item or service available in India, often at a discounted rate. It partnered with a wide range of transport, utility and entertainment companies to create digital payment systems. Paytm's mobile payment platform was, for a time, the only payment method accepted by Uber in India. Over the next few years, Paytm added dozens of new use cases for its technology.