Paytm has tied up with Citi to launch a credit card, called the Paytm First Card. The new Paytm credit card is touted to offer one percent "universal unlimited cashback" to customers along with no restrictions on earning categories. While the Paytm First Card comes with an annual fee of Rs. 500, the fee is claimed to be waived if the spends exceed Rs. 50,000 per year. The Paytm First Card is similar to co-branded credit cards that retailers and airlines offer and uses Visa network for transactions. Paytm has also built its own tool with Citi to check the eligibility of the potential customers.
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Customers can apply for the new Paytm credit card directly from the Paytm app, though it will be given on the basis of individual digital behaviour, the company said in a statement. The card will offer Paytm promocodes worth Rs. 10,000 on spending a minimum of Rs. 10,000.
Paytm claims that it will offer unlimited one percent cashback, "without restrictions, auto-credited every month," through the new credit card. The passbook of the credit card will also highlight exclusive offers from both Paytm and Citi on a real-time basis alongside enabling customers to track their credit card transactions.
The Paytm First Card comes with an annual fee of Rs. 500 that will be waived on spends exceeding Rs. 50,000 per year. Unlike the Paytm debit card that was launched back in September 2017 and is limited to inland transactions in India, the new credit card is touted to be accepted internationally -- thanks to the Citi integration backed by Visa network. It is also claimed to bring exclusive offers on dining, shopping, and travel among others through Citi Privileges platform.
As we mentioned earlier, Citi and Paytm have jointly built a selection tool to identify the potential base and access creditworthiness. This will help enable customers to own a credit card without requiring a prior credit history.
"Our new offering is designed to bring utmost flexibility to our customers in their digital payment options will help spur large-ticket cashless payments," said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Chairman and CEO, One97 Communication, in the statement.
It is significant to point out that this isn't the first time when Paytm and Citi have joined their hands to take on the competition. Paytm parent company One97 Communications started as a Citi commercial banking client back in 2009. Citi was also selected as an advisor on the initial investment by Ant Financial in 2016. Similarly, Paytm wallet got integrated within Citibank online and mobile app in 2016.
Having said that, the Paytm credit card comes as a unique offering by the two companies. It's majorly competing against the Apple Card that debuted in the US in March. Apple announced a one percent Daily Cash for purchases made using the titanium credit card that has been designed in collaboration Goldman Sachs and Mastercard.
Back in March, Paytm launched the subscription-based loyalty programme Paytm First that was rival Amazon's Prime subscription and Flipkart's Plus membership. The model was designed to give partner offers worth over Rs. 12,000 at an annual charge of Rs. 750.
