FreeCharge just dropped a bomb on Paytm

As the race of digital wallets gain steam, FreeCharge looks like it just stole a march on bigger rival Paytm, with the launch of its new Mastercard powered virtual card.

Called FreeCharge Go, this card is basically a one-stop wallet for any online transaction a customer might want to make in the country. And yes, that means FreeCharge can now be used to pay Uber bills – so far the monopoly of Paytm – as well as Ola bills. At least in theory.

FreeCharge clarified later saying their Uber tie-up isn’t glitch-free yet.

The card acts like any credit or debit card a user holds, except it is virtual, and allows for facilities like pooling rewards points, and using technology that can generate personal identification numbers even with flaky internet connectivity.

And if you remember your card details, you need not even open the FreeCharge app.

“We want to be as invisible during transaction as possible. We are here to remove all friction from commerce,” founder and chief executive officer Kunal Shah said.

Easier said than done in a country where cash is king.

The size of the Indian economy is around US$2.1 trillion. According to a report by GrowthPraxis, the market for mobile-enabled payments in India grew more than 15 times between 2012 and 2015 to reach its current size of US$1.4 billion.

That opens up opportunities for mobile wallets, but is still a fraction of the money changing hands in the country.

Not all wallets were acceptable to all vendors, and one cannot expect users to download and use the many mobile wallets mushrooming in the country.

The biggest of these names is Paytm, which claims over 120 million registered users and more than 2.5 million transactions daily, on average. FreeCharge, in comparison, claims over 30 million registered users.

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