EXCLUSIVE: Mobikwik is willing to partner with other e-wallets like Paytm

With its latest offering,Mobikwik doesn’t want to limit you to pay or receive Mobikwik cash but it is open to integrating with other e-wallets like Paytm.

Not just that, Mobikwik ‘lite’ is claiming to be India’s lightest mobile wallet only taking up 700 kb on your phone. This app can prove to be a gamechanger after demonetization, for a majority of Indians who might have a basic smartphone but not an email address.

ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: Inside Paytm, the first 24 hours after demonetization

Bipin Preet Singh, CEO & Co-founder of Mobikwik explained how this is going to work. “We already have five e-wallets on our platform namely Pesa, Oxigen, Pockets, PayZapp and SBI Buddy. What this means is that the customer can use any of these wallets to pay through Mobikwik to a merchant.”

“Currently working with 2G or even Edge connectivity, Mobikwik Lite will soon work without any net connectivity too, thereby addressing all the challenges being faced by the masses in accessing wallet payments, from language to connectivity or quality of smartphones,” Singh said. This lightweight app is expected to be a free service for the merchants and customers until March 2017.

Mrinal Sinha, COO, Mobikwik said, “After demonetization, we realized that we wanted to get as many people online as possible, from merchants to consumers. This move is to make digital payments through internet or SMS available to all. In theory, this will disrupt the market as it could replace POS devices.''
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The completely offline app is expected to launch in 10 days. E-commerce partnerships have been doing really well for the company, as it moves towards its goal of becoming profitable by mid-2018.

“80% of our e-commerce partnerships are profitable even after the cashback. Recharge and bills are breakevens for us,” claims Singh.
Maybe, partnering with other e-wallets makes sense on the way to profitability in the newly digitized market.
Whether it is going to be survival of the fittest or the lightest, only acquisitions will tell.