Paytm eyes to pour in another Rs 5,000 Crore in payment business by 2020

Indian digital payment space is getting competitive as global behemoths are launching their operations soon. For countering payment pioneers like Paypal and instant messenger WhatsApp, Paytm plans to invest Rs 5000 crore in the payment business over the next three years.

“Paytm has invested more than Rs 5,000 crore in mobile payment... As a company, we have invested the most and will continue to be the largest investor (in digital payments) in the country," said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder & CEO Paytm to ET.

Sharma isn’t perturbed by the launch of deep-pocketed players in the payment space. "The biggest threat for us will be us, not anybody else,” he added. According to him arrival of companies like Paypal and WhatsApp will provide attention it (digital payment) needed.

Paytm has an edge over any digital payment companies or new entrants as it has registered user base of 200 million. Post integrating UPI on its platform, it expects the volume of peer to peer (P2P) transaction to grow from 100 million to 200 million every quarter.

Paytm also claims to have an upper hand with a network of more than 5.5 million merchants when it comes to competition on UPI front.

The Alibaba-backed company had launched a messaging platform with in-chat payments to counter Whatsapp’s digital wallet. The messaging service ‘Inbox’, will allow consumers to chat, send and request money at the same time.

Besides maintaining leadership in domestic payment market, Paytm is also eying global ambition. Last week, Paytm Payments Bank’s CEO Renu Satti reiterated that Payment Bank can be the biggest digital bank not only in the country but also in the world.

In May this year Paytm had raised $1.4 billion from Softbank at a valuation of $7 billion. The investment was one of the largest fund-raising events for any internet company in the country.