Paytm suspends POS app a day after release due to security concerns
India’s Paytm has withdrawn its POS app a day after it was released amid security concerns.
Paytm released a new point-of-sale app dubbed Paytm POS to much fanfare on Wednesday, addressing the inadequate availability of POS machines in India. Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma was expecting over 10 million downloads of Paytm POS app by the weekend.
However, the ecommerce company announced last evening it is rolling back the app, a decision it reached after talking with several stakeholders and realising its app needed to be more secure. Shortly after its release, payment network giants MasterCard and Visa had flagged privacy concerns in how Paytm POS app was handling user details.
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"Based on some suggestions from the industry, we have decided to add additional certifications and features before making it available to merchants," the company wrote in a blogpost, adding that it will re-launch the app with some amendments later without sharing a firm timeline.
India has roughly about 1.5 million point-of-sales card machines, and over 700 million with debit cards and credit cards. Paytm POS app was designed to mimic as a terminal machine.
Shortly after its announcement, however, people began expressing security concerns in the way Paytm POS app handled bank credentials.
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Customers were required to feed their bank credentials on merchant’s smartphone. Paytm, however, clarified in the post that it was not storing any card details on app or its servers, and that the transactions were carried out on the bank’s page. The app also followed the two factor authentication guidelines as mandated by local laws.
Paytm and other epayment solution providers have been at the centerstage in India lately. Amid the domestic government's decision to invalidate much of the paper cash, mobile wallet apps have reported astronomical growth in new users and daily transactions. Earlier this week, Paytm said it was entertaining more daily transactions than all plastic cards combined in India.
