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    Nearby retail shop as ATM? PhonePe toys with the idea

    Synopsis

    The leading payment player, in the absence of Merchant Discount Rates (MDR), believes that including such value-added services to existing business channels would be the key to future growth

    PhonepeAgencies

    PhonePe has ventured into the business of digital ATMs with ambitions to operate what could turn out to be the largest fleet of cash withdrawal points across the country.

    For this, the Walmart-owned financial service provider has geotagged more than half a million merchants with excess cash to help customers convert digital money into cash through a ‘withdraw’ button on the PhonePe application. The idea is to increase merchant engagement on the platform by creating a new value service for both local shop owners and consumers.

    “We are seeing that banks are not finding it viable to operate ATM and that is the reason several ATMs are dry on cash,” said Vivek Lohcheb, Head of Offline Business Development, PhonePe. “It’s even more (of a problem) in tier 3 and 4 towns where the lack of availability of cash has become a cause for concern.”

    The leading payment player, in the absence of Merchant Discount Rates (MDR), believes that including such value-added services to existing business channels would be the key to future growth in an already competitive market with the likes of Paytm, Google and now Whatsapp facing off to dominate merchant and customer engagement modes.
    The Economic Times

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