Former RBI executive to join as CEO of PayTM’s payments bank
India: PayTM received the approval
from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to launch its payment bank in August 2015.
Through this bank, the company would able to offer deposit and remittances
services but not loan facility.
The company has recruited the former RBI
executive Shinjini Kumar as a CEO of its payment bank venture. Shinjini is
presently working with PwC as a Director and would be joining PayTM venture
next month. However, the appointment of the CEO has to be approved by the RBI. After
the joining, Shinjini has to build the team of 2,500 people.
Shinjini Kumar was worked with RBI for
16 years and was handling foreign direct investments, supervised operations of
foreign banks, and trade payments.
PayTM is expected to launch the new
venture in the second of this year.
The company has also recruited Saurabh
Sharma, a former executive of Airtel. He would be heading the merchant and
agent acquisition division in the bank. Also, the company has hired Vikas
Purohit, who was associated with Amazon India to handle the leading banking
operations.
TechSci Research depicts that PayTM
after setting the foothold in the growing mobile wallet market is extending its
reach to Indians via payment bank. As well, the payment banks provide multiple opportunities
for mobile wallet players and expected to drive inclusion for the unbanked
population.
A recent report published by TechSci Research, “India Mobile Wallet Market Forecast and Opportunities,
2020”, the mobile wallet market in India is forecast to reach US$ 6.6 billion
by 2020. Growing awareness regarding the benefits of mobile wallets, rising
smartphone and mobile internet penetration rates, and increasing security
measures are expected to drive growth in India mobile wallet market. In 2014,
Tier-I cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, etc., registered
the highest number of mobile wallet users in the country, while Tier II cities
such as Jaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Indore, Patna, etc. are emerging cities in
terms of mobile wallet usage. Banking accounted for the largest end user sector
in the country’s mobile wallet market in 2014, followed by retail, telecom and
transportation sectors.