Softbank-backed Paytm on Tuesday said that over $1.6 billion worth of payments were processed on its platform during the just concluded Diwali season (from September 20-October 20).

The country's largest mobile payment and commerce platform witnessed 3.5X increase in online and offline payments during the festive season as more consumers used its payment service during the same period compared to last year.

Kiran Vasireddy, Chief Operating Officer, Paytm, said: "Mobile payments have become the mainstream over the last few quarters. It's encouraging to see that a majority of growth in offline payments is from smaller towns and cities.''

This has resulted in over $1.6 billion worth of transactions in a month, making this the largest Diwali for mobile payments in India.

For the Diwali season, Paytm registered growth across all its payment use-cases and categories. Food outlets, transportation and offline retailers have contributed the most to the overall surge in transactions, with more than 60 per cent of the incoming growth from tier-II and tier-III cities.

While larger cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune have experienced this transformation in payment behaviour, this trend is now being led by smaller cities and towns like Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mysore and Vishakhapatnam among others where local vendor communities continue to embrace Paytm in their daily lives, Khan said.

This trend was repeated on Diwali and Bhai Dooj weekend, which saw 2X increase in transactions compared to last year. The company had earmarked over Rs 250 crore during the Diwali season period to bring the next leap of mobile payments growth across the country.

Srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

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