Paytm to roll out Gold Accumulation Plan

Digital payments platform Paytm will be rolling out Gold Accumulation Plan (GAP),which allows one to purchase gold using its account for as low as one gram and maximum of 10 gm gold.

Talking to DH, Paytm Vice President Krishna Hegde said, “The GAP was launched recently as a pilot project in collaboration with MMTC-PAMP’s – a joint venture between PAMP SA Switzerland and MMTC, a Government of India Undertaking. Right now, GAP is there on mobile web and on web only.

It’s been introduced to gauge the consumer demand for a product like this.” To a question on whether Paytm is legally allowed to sell gold on its platform, Hegde said, “Paytm is only providing a platform for the customer to access the gold accumulation plan. The seller is MMTC-PAMP India, India’s largest gold refinery, and it is the custodian of your accumulated gold. At no point does the ownership of the accumulated gold transfers to either Paytm or MMTC-PAMP.”

On volume of gold sold, he said, “We have so far sold many kilos. But barely scratched the surface. We need to create awareness among the people. Some people may not know, what is the actual price of gold of 22 carat. Just like 999.5 and 999.9 are both 24 carat, but 999.9 is the purest.”

On challenges of delivering gold across the country, he said, “Gold is a high value product. Ecommerce in India cannot deliver to all PIN codes in India. The objective is to make people buy gold digitally till you find its end use. As a consumer you may buy one gram today, one gram the next month and so on, till you reach the target of 10 gm.”

Krishna Hegde: Gold Accumulation Plan  was launched recently as a pilot project in collaboration with MMTC-PAMP’s – a joint venture between PAMP SA Switzerland and MMTC