Realising a huge business opportunity in the Indian Education sector, mobile commerce platform Paytm has introduced cashless payments in a few educational institutions to test waters. Students in these institutions can now pay school fees and dues, cafeteria bills as well as buy uniforms, books and merchandise by making cashless payments through the Paytm Wallet.
The organisation has tied up with several premium educational institutions for this pilot in the country from pre-schools to colleges, including prestigious names such as IIT Mandi, Universal Education Trust, KN Modi University, Vidyamandir Classes, Made Easy, Career Launcher, Jamboree, Primus Public School, Bangalore, Swaminarayan Gurukul Vidyalaya and a few DPS to name some. It is also said to be in advanced stage discussions with all leading IITs, IIMs, central and state universities and will be completing the formal tie-ups soon.
Cashless purchases and payments obviates chances of theft and misplacement that often come with carrying cash in schools and colleges. (Image Source: blog.fractalanalytics.com)
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder & CEO, Paytm said, “We are committed to bringing all services that require regular payment on to the Paytm platform. School fees and educational expenses form a significant part of an Indian consumer’s regular spends. Since this segment involves children, the advent of cashless purchases and payments obviates chances of theft and misplacement that often come with carrying cash.”
According to a Fitch report, the Indian education sector’s market size is pegged to be around $109.84 billion in Financial Year 2014-2015 which makes India the world’s third largest market for education. With more than 1.5 million schools and over 35,000 higher education institutes in India, the education market in the country is set to grow around 34% between 2013-14 and 2017-18. Paytm is the first organization that has realised potential in this opportunity and wants to make regular purchases simpler and cashless for students and parents.