Negotiations on acquiring Paytm Payments Bank businesses underway as RBI deadline looms

As Paytm Payments Bank announced to shift its nodal account to Axis Bank by opening an escrow account, speculations started on which bank or financial services major is vying to get what businesses at the Paytm subsidiary as the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) March 15 deadline looms.

Negotiations with Paytm are reportedly underway for a chunk of FASTags, National Common Mobility Card and becoming banking partners for UPI transactions-related businesses but deals are yet to be finalised.

However, "the basic risk in this opportunity would be the KYC of merchants or client onboarding. If banks take any business, they'll have to re-do KYC because nobody wants to get on the wrong side of the regulator", according to Kuntal Sur, partner–risk consulting and leader for financial services and treasury risk management at PwC India.

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