Paytm hiring over 20,000 field sales executives to support expansion ahead of IPO

New Delhi: Digital payments firm Paytm will hire more than 20,000 field sales executives across the country, ahead of its initial public offering (IPO). The Noida-headquartered fintech giant looks to expand its operations in the country as it is getting tough competition from several rivals, including PhonePe and Google Pay.

The new employees will have an earning potential of approximately Rs 35,000 every month. Paytm will use new recruits to promote the firm's full portfolio including QR codes, POS machines, Paytm Soundbox as well as other products in segments like wallet, UPI, Paytm Postpaid, merchant loans and insurance offerings, according to a report in ToI which cited sources as saying.  

Recently, the fintech startup has unveiled its field sales executive programme in an earnest attempt to give employment opportunities to undergraduates.

Paytm is poised to launch its Rs 16,600-crore IPO by October. The fintech aims to raise Rs 8,300 crore through fresh equity and another Rs 8,300 crore through offer-for-sale. Paytm had about 11 per cent market share in Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions, while Phone-Pe had 45 per cent,



followed by Google Pay with 35 per cent, according to the daily which cited the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) May data.

Earlier this month, One97 Communications-the parent of payments firm Paytm-had filed draft papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for the country's biggest IPO, saying that the firm will utilise Rs 4,300 crore to acquire and retain consumers and merchants and give them with greater access to technology and financial services. It will invest Rs 2,000 crore in new business initiatives, acquisitions and strategic partnerships.

China's Ant Group is likely to offload at least 5 per cent of its over 30 per cent holding in One97 Communications before its IPO. It has been reported that the fintech major wants to bring down Ant's holding to below 25 per cent in as per Sebi norms for listing as a 'professionally managed company' via OFS. Ant Group's affiliate company Alibaba owns a little more than 7 per cent in Paytm.

It may be noted that Paytm reported narrowing of consolidated loss to Rs 1,704 crore in the financial year to end-March 2021. It had posted a loss of Rs 2,943.32 crore in the financial year 2019-20.