Paytm will start distribution of general insurance products soon, said its founder and CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
The foray into general insurance distribution will come on the heels of Paytm expanding in the financial services space through wealth products (SIP registration already launched), stock broking, and planned offer of small consumer loans through partnerships with banks and NBFCs.
At the same time, Sharma made it clear that Paytm was mainly focused on building its payments system first before spreading its wings. “We are conscious of the fact that we have to first build payments and then other financial services,” Sharma. Sharma also said that Paytm is aiming to double its active customer base as well as merchant base this fiscal.
“By 2020, we should be having 50-crore active customers. The biggest priority for us is to advance the payments system deeper into India,” he said. As on date, Paytm has over 26-crore wallet users.
“Response of technology-led distribution of financial services has been great. We want to try out things that can be completely digital first and then adopt assisted model,” he said.
