Payments Bank Paytm is reportedly looking forward to launching its new Messaging service to compete with WhatsApp by the end of August. According to a Reuters news report, the Paytm chat App will offer its digital payment option inside the app which can be used “to buy everything from food to plane tickets.” For those unaware, WeChat already offers the option to transact digitally on its chat platform and is quite popular in China.
WhatsApp had earlier shared its plans to integrate payments in the app and is reportedly working on person-to-person payments in India within the next six months. “Paytm’s messaging service will allow users to send audio, video and pictures and texts,” the report added. However, the company is yet to acknowledge this development officially. Paytm has over 225 million users.
Also, rival messaging app Hike recently introduced its Hike Wallet. With Unified Payments Interface (UPI) support enabled in Hike 5.0, users can now do free and instant bank-to-bank transfers with their friends. This works even if their friends aren’t on Hike. Interestingly, Hike 5.0 allows users to recharge their phones and pay their postpaid bill right from inside Hike.
In another news, the digital payments firm had recently introduced its payments bank– Paytm Payments Bank. It offers zero fees on online transactions, no minimum balance and a free virtual debit card. The bank offers an annual interest of 4 percent for all saving accounts.