And now, Paytm faces its moment of truth

BENGALURU : Paytm (One 97 Communications Ltd) has spent nearly ₹14,500 crore to convince Indians to substitute digital payments for cash. For a few months after demonetization in November 2016, it seemed like the company was on the cusp of victory.

But now, Paytm is in danger of having its lunch eaten by newer payment apps, even as cash remains the preferred choice of payments for most Indians.

Though digital payments are still expected to grow to $1 trillion by 2023 compared with $200 billion in 2018, according to a 2018 Credit Suisse report, digital wallets, where Paytm has established a monopoly, may soon become obsolete. Growth in digital payments is now being led by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform. Dozens of large companies and small startups from Reliance Industries to Facebook to Razorpay are launching UPI-based products.