Fashion, travel & edtech are key verticals in cross-border payments for PayPal India
The whole world is looking at India to be the next wave of innovation in fintech, says Chandni Nihalani of PayPal India
Fashion, travel and edtech are key verticals in cross-border payments for PayPal India and the fintech company is focused on further scaling its reach in these verticals, Chandni Nihalani, Director, PayPal India, told businessline.
Small sellers always had the aspiration to go global and as the world saw accelerated digital adoption during Covid, sellers in different sectors benefited from it. In India, fashion was one of the high-growing sectors in terms of cross-border payments, followed by travel and edtech, according to PayPal.
“Travel was one of the worst-hit industries during the pandemic and then as the pandemic effect came down, last year was a lot about domestic travel. Now, people are looking at international trips. This has increased the need for more and more digitisation to help travellers coming to India from abroad,” said Nihalani.
For instance, if a traveler came from abroad to visit India, they want everything automated starting with an E-visa, and places to visit, among other things. PayPal has partnered with SBI and PayPal is on the government’s Su-Swagatam app to help international travellers get Indian visa.
New age companies
Nihalani also said there are many new age travel companies coming up in India that are working on personalising the travel itinerary for tourists. Such travel companies are increasingly integrating with PayPal, she added.
Further, edtech was one of the sectors that recorded high growth during Covid, when all educational institutions went online. Now, even as most edtech companies are moving towards a hybrid teaching model, Nihalani said that some edtechs are still continuing to grow and expand digitally. “Overall, fashion, travel and edtech are the key verticals that we have seen growth and are focused on doubling down on this year,” she added.
On fintech sector
Commenting on the growth of fintech companies from India and the competitive landscape in cross-border payments, Nihalani said, “Indian regulations keep changing and there is sensitivity around new fintechs and the kinds of business models that they are building. So, it is taking time for these players to find sustainable business models. The strength of PayPal is that we have a very sound and stable business model which has been in existence for two decades. That’s what differentiates us from every other player and will take any new age brand several years to catch up on.”
She added that PayPal takes Indian fintech seriously and wants to keep innovating on its product offerings to compete with any new age brand that comes up. “Indian fintech is extremely hot at the moment and we are seeing more and more players coming up. The whole world is looking at India to be the next wave of innovation in fintech. In terms of competition, we are watching closely what players are doing,” said Nihalani.
The article was first published in The Hindu BusinessLine.