Paytm banking plans boosted by $60 million funding round

Paytm banking plans boosted by $60 million funding round

Paytm parent company One97 Communications has raised $60 million from Taiwanese chip manufacturer MediaTek, part way to a $300 million target that will fund the mobile commerce firm's move into the Indian banking sector.

Last year Paytm - which is 40% owned by Chinese Web giant Alibaba - was one of 11 applicants to get in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India to set up so-called payments banks.

Designed to help boost financial inclusion, payment banks will be able to take deposits of up to Rs 1 lakh, issue debit and ATM cards, and facilitate online transactions, but are not allowed to lend money.

In May, Paytm gave Wipro a one year contract to help it build a core banking system that meets accounting and regulatory requirements including compliance with anti-money laundering rules.

The $60 million investment by MediaTek values the firm at $5 billion. The company says it is in talks with other investors and expects to reach its $300 million traget in the coming months.

Comments: (1)

Hitesh Thakkar
Hitesh Thakkar - SME - Fintech startups (APAC and Africa) - India 31 August, 2016, 15:10Be the first to give this comment the thumbs up 0 likes

Is MediaTek following in steps with Hitachi ( Hitachi acquiring White Lable ATM player in India Prizm) to get foothold of it's technology in India's payments space? Great move but hope MediaTek knows that PayTM is adopting Alibaba's Sound wave based payments (Pilots started in June 2016).

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