Flipkart is finally cozying up to rival payments platform, Paytm, and has now started rolling out the Paytm wallet and UPI integration on its e-commerce website. Paytm is the arch-nemesis to Flipkart’s own PhonePe payment service, so it’s surprising to see the company finally embrace it to push the envelope on digital payments.
The e-commerce giant has offered its own wallet and PhonePe UPI payment services at checkout to date. You could also use other UPI apps to complete payments. Flipkart is now taking aim at new users, who might feel at home with Paytm as a payment option, with this new integration.
If you add a product to your cart and head to the payments page, you will be able to see the new Paytm integration live under the ‘Wallets’ and ‘UPI’ options. There also seems to be some offer available on this payment option but we were unable to test it out.
“It is our continuous endeavor to work with ecosystem partners to provide customers with digital transaction possibilities,” asserts a Flipkart spokesperson confirming the development. The company intends to “enable secure, convenient, and new ways of transacting online” by developing in-house solutions and forging partnerships in the long run. Paytm has also confirmed the integration, as per an Economic Times report.
Why has Flipkart finally included Paytm as one of the payment options at checkout? If the sources cited in the report are to be believed, then Flipkart expects users to pick Paytm over cash-on-delivery in non-metro markets. Paytm is said to be a popular and trusted payment option in such areas. This would also greatly reduce the money that exchanges hands, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus, enforcing contact-less deliveries on a greater scale.
It will be interesting to see whether the Paytm integration gives Flipkart an edge over its arch-nemesis, Amazon, in India. The latter only offers its own ‘Amazon Pay’ wallet integration to easily handle payments and refunds. Flipkart is planning to roll out the Paytm integration to all users ahead of the festival season, which is a smart move.
