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.