Amazon Pay Payment Gateway: 'India's version of Alipay' Paytm surpasses 8 million users in Japan

Recently, the founders of Paytm announced that the company's joint venture in Japan has reached 8 million users, solidifying its position in the country's vast potential market. As a QR code-based mobile payment app, Paytm is one of the industry leaders in the Indian market with over 250 million users. However, Paytm is facing growing challenges as US tech giants like Amazon and Google enter the Indian market.

While QR code payments are not common in Japan, and some large supermarkets and clinics still prefer cash transactions to card payments, the Japanese government is actively promoting cashless payments. Last year, the government announced that it would double the share of digital payments in total transactions to 40% by 2025.Companies like Paytm, which see Japan's low digital payment rates as an opportunity, are making significant inroads within the market.

Industry insiders point out that PayPay's main competitor is Line, a popular instant messaging app that is venturing into financial services.

Paytm's CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said the company plans to launch P2P transactions next year, allowing users to transfer funds through the app, and is working on partnerships with merchants ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In a bid to continue winning customers and merchants, Paytm is seeking to achieve a monopoly in kirana shops, which dominate the retail market in India, through massive promotions. The company is launching a variety of financial products and aims to create a financial app similar to China's WeChat.

Last year, Paytm partnered with Citibank to launch a credit card and a loyalty programme for Amazon Prime and Flipkart Plus members. The company said it expects to break even in less than two years after restructuring its e-commerce startup Paytm Mall. In May this year, Paytm Payments Bank, which can only accept deposits and remittances but not loans, reported a profit of $2.7 million in its second year of operations.

Paytm is also urging India to accelerate the rollout of 5G so that the country can "leapfrog" the outdated technology.

(Source: Cross-border cat banter)

The above represents the views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the position of Hugo Network. This article was contributed with the exclusive permission of the original author and Hugo Network was asked to obtain permission to republish it.