Mobile wallet provider Paytm is planning to hire 10,000 more agents and also to open 1, 00, 000 branches across the country, so as to make it easier for its users to compete for the know-your-customer (KYC) norms.

Aiming to Reach 500 million Full-KYC Customers

Paytm has set a target of reaching 500 million full-KYC customers in three years. Paytm said that the Reserve Bank of India’s recent guidelines for mobile wallets has put standalone mobile wallets at a disadvantage with its strict KYC norms and additional regulatory requirements.

CEO of Paytm Payments Bank, Renu Satti said that “We already have 10,000 people on the street doing KYC of our customers, now we are planning to hire 10,000 more within the next two months to expand our capacity to do physical KYC.”

New Guidelines Putting Standalone Wallets at a Disadvantage

A fully KYC-compliant customer of Paytm Payments Bank would get a minimum 4% interest on the balance money in their account. Highlighting this fact, Satti said the new guidelines are putting standalone wallets at a disadvantage as they are not giving any interest on wallet balances.

“Standalone wallets are clearly at a disadvantage,” Satti said. “Money in your Paytm Payments Bank account along with its wealth management solutions will give returns of 4-6%, while the same in digital wallets cannot earn any interest.”

RBI’s Provision

RBI’s provision for easy movement of funds between the Paytm bank account and the Paytm wallet will make cheaper for Paytm to load money into its customers’ wallets. However, Standalone digital wallets will have to bear the merchant discount rate (MDR) while loading money into wallets, Satti said.