Paytm to get new messaging feature by end of this month

India's top digital wallet firm Paytm is gearing up to enter the instant messaging segment to challenge WhatsApp. According to a new report, Paytm will integrate messaging functionality into its app, and is said to go live before the end of August as beta. This was first reported by Wall Street Journal, and later confirmed by TechCruch as well.

The report further mentions that Paytm has been working on the messaging service since three months, and will offer the basic features like texting and sending audio, video and photos. It is also expected to get more sophisticated features like mobile & social games; adding official accounts for communications channels, that will allow brand connect to users; and more. This will allow brands and Paytm merchants to market goods directly to the users, and receive payment within the app.

Paytm's latest move appears to be an effort to attract more users to its platforms, and increase user engagement. The platform has more than 230  million registered users, however the active user base stands at 54 million as of July, which is less compared to WhatsApp's 200 million monthly users in the country.

The latest report comes months after it was reported that WhatsApp is also planning to integrate UPI based mobile payment service in India on its messaging platform. 

The use of digital wallet surged in India thanks to the impact of demonetization, which saw Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes recalled and this boasted digital payment in the country, which helped Paytm, MobiKwik, Freecharge and other digital payment service to be adopted by more users.