New Delhi (NVI): Payworld, a fintech company based out of Gurugram – Delhi NCR and a Banking correspondent for a number of banks, increased its retailer base from 2 lakh to 4 lakh within a year of COVID-19 pandemic.
The company aims to penetrate into more rural markets which constitute over 70 per cent of the untapped audience who have no access to digital technology.
When the entire country was reeling under the intense impact of the pandemic, the company had stepped in and transformed the lives of people from the marginal sections of the society with its essential financial services.
Payworld’s assisted financial services cater mainly to the semi-urban and rural citizens of India.
The company, with its network of over 4 lakh retailers, provided the essential financial services including AEPS, Domestic Money Remittances, Insurances, Digital Payments, Rail and Air ticketing and others to a very large number of citizens who needed these most and helped them remain unaffected by the outbreak.
Prior to the outbreak, it was evident that fintech would play a key role in financial services and COVID-19 accelerated that process. Payworld experienced a surge in demand as working practices and customer banking habits changed in the COVID-19 era.
This is because Payworld created a faster, efficient and relatively cheaper financial services distribution network using technology. This led to a steep growth in all its services such as remittance, loans, insurance and ticketing due to the retailers, who are locals from the village, semi-urban and rural areas.
They helped the company in expanding their reach to the remotest of areas and enabled the people to avoid traveling for long distances.
Praveen Dhabhai, COO, Payworld, said, “Health concerns during the pandemic made travel s almost impractical and opened the door for faster onboarding and training of our retailers using technology.”
“This paved way for Payworld to reach out to the semi-urban and rural citizens of India. Today, we have witnessed maximum growth in the states of UP and Bihar with AEPS being the most frequently used Services,” he added.
Dhabhai further said, “Within a year, we have seen a 50% growth in retailers, 25% growth in distributors and 110% growth in transactions. Way forward, we plan to replicate the success of UP and Bihar and further penetrate into the rural areas and contribute to India’s development through financial inclusion and digitization.”
