The interface of payments app Paytm.
Reuters Photo
Paytm’s new merchant soundbox will accept both mobile and card payments
Fintech firm Paytm has expanded its ‘Soundbox’ suite by launching an “all-in-one” merchant device that will accept both UPI and credit/debit card payments through ‘tap and pay’, founder and chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma announced in a press meet on Monday. With this, the company hopes to add 12 lakh soundbox subscribers to its network every quarter, he informed.
The Card Soundbox will allow merchants to accept all transactions made through Visa, Rupay, Mastercard and American Express networks, with an upper limit of Rs 5,000 per transaction, and users with near field communication (NFC) enabled smartphones can also pay through their phones. Merchants will receive audio-based confirmations on their devices once the payment goes through.
“We have found that merchants and consumers need card acceptance as simply as mobile payments with Paytm QR Code. The launch of Card Soundbox will go a long way in merging the two requirements of merchants - mobile payments and card payments,” Sharma said.
Paytm, which claims to have introduced audio-based confirmations in the country, also reported adding 11 lakh new merchants to its network of paid soundbox subscriptions during Q1 2024, taking the total to 79 lakh. Rivals GooglePay and PhonePe have also jumped on the bandwagon since and launched their own soundbox like devices for merchants.