Following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) strictures on Paytm Payments Bank (PPB) last week, Paytm has directed its field sales executives to migrate merchant QR codes from their existing PPB accounts to accounts with other banks.
For example, Manoj Kumar, who works for a retail chain ‘More’ in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, said that representatives of the fintech major asked them to move the store’s funds from PPB to other bank accounts before February 29.
The process has started over the weekend itself and the fintech major is trying to sensitise as many merchants as possible before the deadline of February 29 to ensure that their business transactions can continue unhindered. “We have been asked to migrate as many QRs as possible to alternate bank accounts by the end of the month,” said area sales executives Fe spoke to.
This comes against the backdrop of panic that has spread among a section of merchants. As per a survey of 5,000 retailers on Paytm by Kirana Club, 68% of the respondents said that they have decreased their trust on the firm since RBI’s announcement.
While merchants need to shift their PPB accounts, the good news is that the QR code, soundbox or card machine will not require any physical changes, the company confirmed. “In instances, where our associate PPB operates as a back-end bank, these services can seamlessly be transitioned to other partner banks. This means that for our merchant partners, there will be no disruptions, no need to revisit existing setups, and no additional effort,” said a company spokesperson.
Talking about operational changes on the merchant side, the company’s management had said on its recent conference call that offline merchants whose Paytm QR is powered by Paytm Payments Bank has a VPA or virtual payment administration of PPB. “So now that QR will have to be changed, the VPA will have to be changed to any other sponsor bank, and we have multiple sponsor banks working with us,” said Bhavesh Gupta, president and COO of Paytm.
Paytm has also issued several social media posts and in-app advisory to merchants to debunk any misconception around the recent restrictive actions by RBI, while its field sales executives are also reaching out directly to merchants with PPB accounts.
The merchants, who use Paytm POS devices, soundboxes, and QR codes to accept payments, but are not account holders of PPB said that they haven’t been approached by company representatives yet, and have only received digital notifications through SMS and on the app, informing them of the latest developments.
These merchants are largely unconcerned about the restrictions put on Paytm Payments Bank. “We are not unduly worried about the closure of Paytm bank operations as we only use the platform for receiving the payment which is transferred to our bank accounts daily,” Jitendra Kumar Lal Chandani, who runs a stationary shop at Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, said.
Several vegetable sellers who FE spoke to said that they are not worried about closure of Paytm Payments Bank as the money from each day’s sales is transferred to their respective bank accounts by the end of the day.