Alibaba-backed mobile commerce company Paytm is partnering with educational institutions across India to drive cashless payments for tuition fees and a range of other school-related student expenses.
With Paytm’s support, users at hundreds of institutions, including Delhi Public School, IIT-Mandi, Universal Education Trust and KN Modi University, among others, will be able to transact for fees, merchandise, books and cafeteria bills through the Paytm Wallet, The Economic Times reported.
As the service rolls out, the mobile wallet company is also partnering with other leading educational institutions to make cashless payments more commonplace among schools and colleges in India.
India, which is a largely cash-driven economy, is slowly waking up to mobile payments. The strong mobile penetration in the country only makes it easier for Paytm and Indian consumers to quickly adopt. Currently, the company has a solid 30 million+ app download record and is expected to grow with time, Paytm’s website said. The Paytm Wallet’s use is being driven in part by a company campaign to get auto-rickshaw and cab drivers to adopt it for hassle-free passenger payments.
A shift to cashless payments should also help in driving down theft and loss of cash, said Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
Since its launch, the payments company has come to be one of the fastest-growing Indian eCommerce websites, along the lines of PayPal. Its current corporate customers include companies like Uber, Expedia and Airbnb.
As the company continues to grow, its chief investor Alibaba, which has over 25 percent ownership in Paytm, is reportedly planning to raise the game by buying up to 40 percent ownership in the company for an additional $600 million. With its current investment, Paytm stands at a valuation of about $4 billion and 100 million mobile wallet users.
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