No impact on merchants' trust on Paytm even after RBI's action: Survey

A survey by Gurugram-based business consulting and services company Datum Intelligence revealed that RBI's restriction Paytm Payments Bank are not impacting merchants' trust in the payment platform.

Merchants' trust

As per the survey 59% of the merchants continue to use Paytm and see no immediate impact from the government's clampdown. It further revealed that 21% merchants are waiting for more information and only 13% are switching to other payment applications.

"Overall, the impact is limited on the merchant business and Paytm is engaging with merchants to reduce the damage and merchants are also waiting before deciding on alternatives," the survey said.

Also Read: Paytm crisis: RBI announces roadmap to ensure smooth transition for users with @paytm handles

For accepting payments, 76% of merchants use Paytm, 41% for PhonePe, 33% for Google Pay and 18% BharatPe shows the survey. The survey also mentioned that a Paytm representative reached out to the merchants after the RBI decision as the reason behind their confidence. For prefered apps, Paytm again tops with 58% of the surveyed merchants choosing Paytm followed by 23% for PhonePe, 12% for Google Pay and 3% for BharatPe.

"71% of merchants are feeling confident to continue using Paytm for payments after a reach out by a Paytm representative. Only 11% are less confident about using Paytm for payments and around 14% are still looking for more information," the Datum Intelligence survey said.

Datum Intelligence surveyed 2,000 merchants who are using Paytm applications for accepting payments across 12 cities

RBI restriction

The Reserve Bank of India restricted the Paytm Payments Bank from accepting new deposits in its accounts and its digital wallets. It has given time till March 15 for most activities linked to Paytm Payments Bank. It also clarified that customers using @paytm UPI handles can be migrated to banks post approval from National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)