Mobile wallet cos don't have profitable models, says Aditya Puri

HDFC Bank Managing Director Aditya Puri on Friday criticised mobile wallet players as they operate on models that are not profitable. Though adoption of mobile wallets gained traction after demonetisation, options like Unified Payments Interface are but as new digital payment options emerge, they may fade away as they have several limitations. Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led Paytm emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the currency overhaul exercise launched on November 8, 2016. Speaking on the sidelines of Nasscom India Leadership Forum, Puri told CNBC-TV18 that money has stayed in the banking system post demonetisation and the HDFC Bank has lost only 5-7 percent of the money collected during demonetisation.There is always a room for interest rates to go down further as supply exceeds demand currently, he said."I think wallets have no future. There is not enough margin in the payment business for the wallets to have a future," Puri, the managing director and chief executive of the second largest private sector lender, said at the annual Nasscom summit here.

"Wallets as a valid economic proposition is doubtful. There is no money in the payments business. The current loss reported by market leader Paytm is Rs 1,651 crore. You cannot have a business that says pay a Rs 500 bill and take Rs 250 cash-back," Puri said.

Wallet companies cannot "copy" the "Alibaba model" as well, as the domestic regulators are "better", he said. The comments are interesting as HDFC Bank also has a wallet service called Chillr.

Drawing on his trip to the Silicon Valley to look at evolving scenarios in financial services world, Puri said ApplePay is also "another version of the wallet" and there is no "reimagining" of the bank happening there.