Paytm announced its partnership with ICICI Bank Thursday, enabling payments at a much wider set of merchants through a co-branded virtual prepaid card linked to the user's Paytm Wallet.
Physical cards will also be issued to a select set of customers who will be able to use them at any merchant that accepts card-based payments, the company said.
Paytm wallet users can also add money to their mobile wallets by making cash deposits at any of the 4,000 ICICI Bank branches, irrespective of whether they are ICICI Bank customers or not.
"Through this 16-digit, Paytm-ICICI Bank co-branded virtual prepaid card, our customers can shop at any retail outlet that accepts Visa, MasterCard and Rupay. This move will give universal access to our consumers, who can shop at any establishment that accepts, credit, debit and prepaid cards," said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO, Paytm in an emailed statement. He also added that the company was considering bringing this offering to customers through Paytm's Payment bank, which starts operations next year.
Paytm was one of 11 entities to receive a Payments Bank license in August this year.
(Also Read: What Are Payment Banks, What They Can and Cannot Do, and Who Will They Affect?)
Paytm was one of four wallet players that tied up with EzeTap, a smartphone-based payments device provider in October.
Disclosure: Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma's One97 is an investor in Gadgets 360.
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