Paytm enters the instant messaging arena with 'Inbox'

Last year amidst the demonetisation move, Paytm was one company who took full advantage of it and grew exponentially and is now not only the top wallet service in India but also have expanded to become a major e-marketplace and payments bank.

Their efforts to bring in diversify and bring in unexpected features is not about the stop. With the aim to get maximum users active on their app, they are entering the instant communication space to counter the likes of Whatsapp, who are in process to offer the option to make mobile payments.

Paytm has come up with a feature called Inbox which allows users to chat with friends, play games and even share their location without leaving the app.

The feature is already live on Paytm wallet and e-commerce app for Android users who have updated to version 6.3.1. This feature will be available on the iOS app soon.

Finding Inbox is not difficult. It is placed on the lower right corner of the home page right after the Bank option. Here are the key highlights of the new Inbox feature in Paytm.

The first and foremost is the option to carry out one-to-one and group chats on Paytm. Once you grant it access to your contacts, it will identify and show names of users who have Paytm installed on their smartphone. To start a conversation, tap on the blue floating icon and select the friend or group you want to chat with.

To make the feature more enticing, Paytm has added the option to recall messages in case they have been accidentally sent to another person or if there was a mistake in the message and the sender wants to correct it to avoid confusion. To access the option, tap and press the message and select the “delete for all” option. The option to recall messages was recently added to WhatsApp also, However, there is no deadline to recall message like Whatsapp.

Users can now send or request money from their Paytm contact during an ongoing chat by tapping on the “send money” or “request money” icon within a chat.

Users can also send photos and videos from the gallery app or use the built-in capture to shoot new photos. You can also share your location with family and friends in the Paytm contacts which they can access in Google Maps or Earth.

Another feature that social messenger apps such as Facebook Messenger and Hike have been experimenting with is games. Paytm Inbox also allows users to play online games within the app. As of now, it offers only two games. You can access them in the game section at the top right corner of the Inbox page.