After Online Wallets, Paytm Is Now Disrupting Offline Payments

Six years ago when PayTM was just a mobile recharge website, little would its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma have imagined that someday his brand would have a presence 10,000 feet above sea level in faraway Leh. His mobile recharge website has come a long way since then. While mobile recharges still are a part of the platform, Paytm now boasts of being the biggest digital wallet in India. And it hasn’t stopped there – it has taken payments offline. And the results are showing. Paytm has gone on to become a unicorn, founder and CEO Vijay Sharma is the richest startup founder, and the “Paytm accepted here” sign is becoming increasingly ubiquitous. Apart from paying for your online cab and food delivery bills, here’s some of the other interesting places PayTM is replacing cash in India.

1. Paytm is being accepted at small stores for small purchases. 

paytm accepted at
via @Indian_launda

2. And it seems to have made inroads into even the informal sectors

paytm accepted at
via @vishmak

 

3. And it’s also in use where it’s important to transact quickly, and getting change back is a hassle. Here it is being accepted at a highway toll booth.

paytm payments accepted at
via @indianterrain

 

4.  It’s being used in small clinics in the hinterland

Paytm payments
via @iankurMishra

5. And is also disrupting religion 😛 Here is someone who received Eidi via Paytm.

paytm payments
via @ram_jalan

 

6. Here it’s being accepted in Leh, 10,000 feet above sea level

 

7. It’s also being increasingly accepted by Auto drivers, a natural use case where getting change back is a hassle

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9. And it’s also commonly seen at petrol pumps. Like this person said, by taking cash out of the equation, it’s bringing out accountability and transparency.

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Maybe this is what disruption really looks like.