Why Paytm halted mobile PoS rollout just a day after launch

Just a day after the blockbuster launch of its mobile point-of-sale (PoS), mobile wallet firm Paytm has halted the rollout of its App PoS.

The launch – which would have taken Paytm's total merchants count from 15 lakh to 1.5 crore in just a week (as per the company's claims) – has been delayed to add more security features, Paytm said on its blogpost.

"Post our launch, we have had several discussions with stakeholders on how we can make this process even more secure," it added. "Based on some suggestions from the industry, we have decided to add additional certifications and features before making it available to merchants."

Run by One97 Communications Ltd, the Alibaba-backed Paytm didn't share any timeline for the re-launch, however said "we will re-launch this product as soon as we have updated the product," and that it is "working closely with everyone in the cards ecosystem with the commitment to expand digital payment acceptance in the country."

The app PoS feature launched on Wednesday allows small merchants to accept all debit and credit cards without the need of a card machine. In this payment flow, Paytm claimed it "does not store any card details in the app or in the company's servers." The transaction is completed on the bank's page and follows the 2 factor authentication guidelines mandated in India.

During the launch, Paytm stressed on the fact that the company is a PCI DSS (Payment Cards industry Data Security Standard) certified company that has its IT systems audited periodically by certified independent auditors.

Post demonetisation, Paytm seems to be the one gaining the most and witnessed tremendous growth in past few days. With over 158 million user base in India, the company claims that earlier 40,000 merchants were signing up on its platform daily and the new feature launch on the Paytm app would have made this number hit 70,000 a day.

Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, in-fact, expected at least 10 million App PoS downloads by this weekend.

Once the feature gets re-launched, merchants will be able to sign up on the Paytm app and accept up to Rs 50,000 a month through mobile PoS without any fee till 31 December. Credit card fee, however, will be 2%, Paytm said. It hasn't clarified on the fee that Paytm will charge after 31 December, but said merchants can transfer the money to Paytm Payments Bank—which is expected to be launched by then—without any charge.