“The small shops of India deserve the best of technology. If India wants to become a $5 trillion economy, we have to help our small merchants grow. When we make in India, we expand and grow India.” Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s closing remarks at the end the social launch event for their latest Paytm Card Soundbox exemplifies the immense contribution of fintech in India’s economic development.
Paytm launched the first-of-its-kind Paytm Card Soundbox that combines mobile as well as debit and credit card payments from all networks including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and RuPay. With this device, the fintech giant has empowered merchants by solving for payment acceptance as well as payments confirmation through this “2-in-1” device.
Unique intervention for merchants
Paytm Card Soundbox packs all the powerful features of Paytm Soundbox with the latest technology that enables merchants to accept card payments up to ₹5,000 through its built-in ‘tap and pay’ functionality. The revolutionary device provides both audio and visual payment confirmation through a LCD display to the merchant and the customer. For users with NFC-enabled smartphones, they can also pay through their phones using the tap feature via the Paytm Card Soundbox.
This Made in India device provides the fastest payments since it is powered by 4G network connectivity. It provides a long battery life of 5 days and its 4W speaker enhances the clarity of payment alerts. Just like its iconic Paytm Soundbox, the new device by the company offers alerts in 11 languages that can be changed by the merchant through Paytm for Business app.
Industry leaders hail the “intuitive device”
Paytm Card Soundbox has been welcomed by all network providers in India who were a part of the launch event. “The time is very apt for such a unique intervention that you have. There is a huge digital funnel on the consumer side that is growing. Paytm is solving the real issue for the merchants,” said Vikas Varma, COO, South Asia, Mastercard. He further added that with this intuitive device, Paytm has ticked all the boxes.
Anurag V Gupta, Vice President & Head – Acquiring & Network Business, American Express said, “At American Express, in partnership with Paytm and others, we have grown our card acceptance. Your innovation is making card payments mainstream.” He exclaimed that it was the first time he had seen a merchant’s business growing because of a payments machine.
Rishi Chhabra, VP, Head of Merchant Sales & Acquiring, Visa said,“This is the kind of innovation one should be striving for. Tomorrow, we may have a consumer in tier 3 city tapping on a machine like this. Both consumer and merchant get closer and better with innovations like this. Safety, security is important but being locally relevant is the path forward.” Calling it a nice combination of convenience for both merchants and consumers, he hailed Paytm Card Soundbox as an “innovation for Bharat”.
