The Indian digital payments market is set to see a lot more traction. Global technology platform and digital payments leader PayPal Holdings has announced the launch of its operations in India.
At launch, Indian consumers can use PayPal to shop online at some of India’s most popular businesses. Merchants offering PayPal will be able to process both local and global payments through PayPal, getting access to PayPal’s 218 million customers around the world and in India through a single integration.
According to a statement from the company, PayPal has been offering cross-border payments in India for close to a decade.
Features including One Touch, Buyer and Seller Protection, Refunded Return and a 180-days dispute resolution window are just some of the benefits Paypal is making available at launch to give it an edge over some of the existing players in India.
“Over two decades we have focused on products, services and strategic partnerships with a singular focus of becoming a champion for our customers, helping millions of people around the world participate in the digital economy. We are excited about our prospects in a market that is highly inspirational and aspirational,” Rohan Mahadevan, CEO PayPal Private Limited & SVP, General Manager, APAC at PayPal said in a statement.
PayPal has also set up a customer service centre in India with multi-lingual support capabilities and an on ground sales team to drive customer engagement and education.
Anupam Pahuja, Country Manager and Managing Director, PayPal India says that the Indian market presents one of the biggest opportunities for Paypal. “We will be targeting the Global Indian and have partnered with merchants catering to this segment giving them a truly global seamless payments experience. India is transitioning away from our biggest competitor – cash – and our digital platform and technology has immense scope to enable this at scale. For us, the marathon has just begun.”
Paypal is a global first-mover in the digital payments space. With a foray into the Indian market, it will be competing with Paytm, which is the market leader in India and also with other players such as MobiKwik, PhonePe and recently launched Amazon Pay and Google’s Tez. According to a recent report by Google and Boston Consulting Group report, the digital payments space in India is projected to reach $500 billion by 2020.
According to Paypal, a key differentiator for it lies in its two-decade track record of making payments secure online. Now with 218 million active accounts in more than 200 markets, PayPal connects a global network of buyers and sellers on its open payments platform. The company’s global reach and scale enable PayPal to have powerful insights into the online and mobile requirements of digital consumers and businesses around the globe and an advantage in leveraging data to keep its customers safer and more secure.