 "Founder and CEO Paytm Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Photo: Dalip Kumar")
Mobile wallet entity Paytm pulled back its in-app point of sale feature that was designed for merchants to accept credit or debit card payments, after security concerns were raised by payment networks such as Visa and MasterCard.
Paytm had on Wednesday launched the product, aiming at small vendors who were looking to shift towards accepting card payments in the wake of the demonetisation and the government’s push towards digital payments. But concerns were raised by Visa and MasterCard, who said it could lead to data breach of user details.
“Post our launch, we have had several discussions with stakeholders on how we can make this process even more secure. Based on some suggestions from the industry, we have decided to add additional certifications and features before making it available to merchants,” Paytm said in a blog post.
Paytm, the digital wallet, has been the most aggressive in capitalising on the government’s push towards digital payments, even lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi in full-page newspaper advertisements. In its zeal to expand to small vendors, Paytm overlooked privacy and data security concerns of customers, as they could potentially have saved screenshot of customer card details.
“Nothing is more important to us than customer data and privacy. We will always put this above all without fail,” Paytm said in
the blog. “We will re-launch as soon as we have updated the product. We are working closely with everyone in the cards ecosystem with the commitment to expand digital payment acceptance in the country.”
