Paytm expands payment acceptance methods for stores to increase online payments

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Mar 10, 2021

Payments and e-commerce business Paytm launched a range of new payments solutions on March 9, including a new version of its ‘Soundbox’, aiming to increase the use of its Internet of Things devices. 

As Paytm works towards its goal of increasing its total of nine lakh users with IoT enabled devices to 50 million merchants, it has launched new ‘Soundbox 2.0’. The device features a digitally enabled screen to provide instant visual confirmation of a payment with a voice-based response. This is designed to reduce fraud and make digital payments more accessible for small brick-and-mortar stores. 
 
“Our target is five million IoT devices, [which would be] 10% of the 50 million merchants,” said Paytm’s founder, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the Press Trust of India reported. “We are aiming to reach 50 million merchants in the next two years. Merchants have varied requirements and need different solutions for accepting payments.

“Instant voice-based confirmations of payments help merchants keep track of all transactions, protecting them from getting duped by those showing fake screens and false confirmations,” continued Sharma. 
 
The business also announced that it has reached 1.2 billion monthly transactions through its payment services, driven by an increase in uptake of its offline payments and financial services. The business aims to onboard more merchants by adding more regional languages to its devices including Marathi in the coming months.