Paytm to add messaging capabilities to rival WhatsApp
India’s most popular electronic wallet and payments bank Paytm is gearing up to add messaging capabilities to its mobile app.
Experts believe this is in response to WhatsApp’s plans to add a payments piece to its platform.
With mobile payments growing rapidly in India post demonetisation, Paytm is expected to quickly double its user base to reach 500 million users.
By the way, in this week’s Monday Mindset, it was mentioned that the only thing differentiating Paytm from WeChat was the messaging piece – and lo and behold – we have news!
Last month, Paytm invested an undisclosed sum in Mobiquest Mobile Technologies, a Noida-based start-up in the mobile loyalty and data analytics space. Mobiquest says its m’loyal platform offers over 200 brands and has over 80 million consumers.
With the deal, Paytm’s partnered merchant network will use Mobiquest’s tech to “acquire, engage and reward” its customers.
Also in July, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg cast his sights on monetising his OTT platforms Messenger and WhatsApp, but don’t expect miracles any time soon.
By Soumik Roy, editorial contributor to Banking Technology
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