Indian citizens have been facing tough situation since last 5 days due to the currency ban issue. After the government announced the demonetization of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes, A panic situation has been created. Not just demonetization, Government has also added a limit on money withdrawals from ATM. So, most of the people have money but cannot buy things because of lack of money in hand. This issue has helped companies offering online wallets. Paytm, MobiKwik, Ola have seen a high number of new users on their platform.
While people know what vendor accepts these wallets online, it is hard to find how to pay on offline stores using these wallets. So, Paytm has added new features dubbed as ‘Nearby’ to help Indian people find offline store accepting Paytm wallet near to their location.
In case you are also in trouble, you can search for stores around you accepting Paytm for payments. If you get few, recharge your Paytm wallet and avoid the long queues in ATMs.
This feature is only helpful in metro cities because the vendor of small cities has not started using Paytm for payments. Paytm ‘Nearby’ shows a directory of 800,000 Paytm’s offline merchants and partners across India. In the first phase, this list is 200,000+ and will continue to grow every day.
Best thing is that the feature is available on both the mobile app and website. So, Paytm users can open either app or website to find the supported vendors nearby and use their Paytm wallet for the purchase.
Commenting on the announcement, Sonia Dhawan – DGM, Paytm, said, “At Paytm, our approach has always been to build an ecosystem that benefits both merchants & customers. I am confident that while our customers will appreciate the increased convenience of finding Paytm services near them, our merchants & partners will value the exponential increase in visibility and new business ‘Nearby’ feature will bring. This is a great example of how mobile technology can drive business across the retail industry by redefining the hyperlocal space.”
After the currency issue in the country, Paytm and other wallet startups are also trying to increase their reach to small towns and encourage business to start using Paytm. This not only helps in making the country cashless but also provides a better way of payments.
