State Bank of India (SBI) is reaching out to merchants to support payment systems in light of the regulatory action on PayTM Payments Bank, chairman Dinesh Khara said. The nation’s largest lender will be happy to welcome merchants and is also open to a one-time migration of accounts from the besieged payments bank, he said.
“We are reaching out to all merchants and will be happy to welcome them back to ensure there are no disruptions in the payments ecosystem. We have SBI Payments which is a company that supports point of sale terminals, QR codes, or app based solutions. We are reaching out to merchants on an ongoing business and are also open to a one time migration of accounts,” Khara said.
In an order issued on Wednesday, the RBI asked Paytm Payments Bank to stop all basic payment services through various platforms and technology railroads – Unified Payments Interface, IMPS, Aadhaar-enabled payments and bill payment transactions – with effect from February 29.
The regulatory action came after the payments bank was found to have violated several rules, including those related to know-your-customer (KYC) documents, which are considered a basic necessity for any financial services firm.
Khara said that though the bank has a minimal business relationship with PayTM, it is open to help to stabilise the system in any way. Khara said that so far there has been no approach from the regulator on the issue.
Paytm is in talks with at least HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Yes Bank to take on payments and settlements load from Paytm Payments Bank, which will effectively stop most of its banking services after February 29, ET reported in its February 3 edition.
The latest action from RBI is the third against Paytm. In 2018, the RBI had asked its payments bank to stop onboarding new customers owing to issues with its KYC process. The ban was lifted in January 2019. The in March 2022, the RBI had barred the bank from onboarding new customers and directed it to appoint an external auditor.
