In merchant push, Paytm turns smartphones into POS machines

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Digital payments major Paytm on March 9 launched its latest Internet of Things (IoT) based payment devices—Soundbox 2.0 and Paytm Smart POS for Android phones through a virtual press conference.

“Paytm is committed to bringing new-age financial technologies and services to 5 crore small and micro-merchants in India. Today’s launch of Soundbox 2.0 and Smart POS for Android phones expands opportunities for small businesses to experience these latest technologies at the most affordable price. Our in-store payment offerings including the pioneering All-in-One QR are examples of the best Made in India technology,” Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO of Paytm, said.

Paytm Smart POS “transforms a smartphone into a device that accepts debit and credit card payments just like a normal Electronic Data Capture (EDC) machine”. It is supported by the Paytm for Business app and “enables merchants to seamlessly start accepting contactless card payments anytime, anywhere.”

Paytm Smart POS works only with NFC-enabled cards and the transaction limit is capped at Rs 5,000 as mandated by the Reserve Bank of India.

“Merchants simply need to sign up on the Paytm for Business App, after which they will be required to download the ‘Paytm Smart POS’ on their Android-based mobile phones. Once downloaded, merchants can start collecting payments from their customers by tapping the card on the back of their smartphones. The payment is then successfully collected and transferred to the merchant’s account along with the other QR payments. This provides the businesses with a single-point easy reconciliation,” it explained further.

The company has partnered with Visa, Mastercard and Rupay for facilitating card payments for its Smart POS initiative. 

“Paytm’s foray into the contactless card payment ecosystem will truly help propel the adoption and usage of contactless cards across India. As a pioneer of the Tap to Phone solution with EMVCo, at Visa we are particularly excited about Paytm Smart PoS’ ability to offer a seamless, convenient and interoperable solution for merchants that will help them accept payments securely from millions of contactless cards in the market,” TR Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India and South Asia, Visa said.

On the benefits for the users, a Paytm spokesperson said, “This feature is highly beneficial for customers as well. They can now pay with their debit and credit cards at any merchant who has a smartphone, starting from street hawkers, tuck shops to large retailers. This will drive credit and debit card penetration deeper into the country and help in the growth of the overall ecosystem”.

The fintech company expanded into IoT payment devices with Paytm All-in-One Android EDC devices, All-in-One Android Pocket POS and Soundbox. The Paytm Soundbox, a made-in-India technology, has been pivotal in pushing digital transactions further into the mainstream. With its new version, customers, as well as merchants, need not wait for payment confirmation messages as instant voice note will declare if a transaction is made.

“Instant voice-based confirmations of payments help merchants keep track of all transactions protecting them from getting duped by customers showing fake screens and false confirmations. Small merchants with feature phones, do not need to depend upon SMS confirmations. It has also enabled smooth and seamless digital payments for home delivery as the delivery executive can get instant voice confirmation after a QR code-based payment is made using the device,” an official statement from Paytm stated.

Paytm Soundbox 2.0 also allows merchants to record the net amount corresponding to the merchant’s collection along with voice-based confirmation which is currently available in 5 languages—English, Hindi, Tamil, Telegu and  Kannada. The company plans to add more regional languages including Marathi in the coming months.

As many as 9 lakh merchants have benefitted from Paytm IoT service, the company claimed.