Paytm: 'NO' to new customers

New Delhi, Aug 01: The Giant digital payments company, Paytm Payments Bank has suspended the enrolment of new customers following an audit by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which found discrepancies in adherence of know-your-customer (KYC) checks on part of the company, according to a report by media. No new customers have been added since July 20.

Paytm is reportedly renovating its payments gateway to include greater scrutiny of current accounts, due to which no new customers have been added in the last 10 days.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reportedly ordered Paytm Payments Bank to suspend the enrolment of new customers. The central bank is said to have found discrepancies in the adherence of know-your-customer (KYC) norms by the Noida-based company.

Sources contacted by Mint also said the RBI had called for the ouster of Renu Satti as chief executive of the payments bank. She stepped down from the post on July 27. RBI guidelines dictate that a person has to be a banker to head a payments bank.

A Paytm employee refuted claims that Satti stepped down on these grounds, saying she was appointed in May 2017, with the express approval of the RBI. Satti has been redeployed within the company and will lead the company's 'New Retail' division.

The payments company is yet to appoint a successor. However, it remains unclear whether the company has been asked by the central bank to stop enrolments, or whether it was merely alerted to the issues with its system of acquiring new customers.

The company has also asked Paytm Payments Bank to differentiate itself from its parent, One97 Communications Ltd. It called for better provisions to store and protect the financial data of customers. The company recently moved its banking team to a new campus in Noida.

Greater adoption of digital payments, especially in non-metro cities, has boded well for Paytm. The worth of digital transactions in July totaled $50 billion, up 4,900 percent from $1 billion in the year-ago period.