Paytm launches 'Card Soundbox' that merges card and QR payments

Mobile payments firm Paytm on September 4 announced that it has launched “Card Soundbox” that integrates QR-based and mobile payments and accepts card payments with 'tap and pay' feature for Rs 999 as one time payment.

With this all-in-one device, merchants can accept both mobile and card payments across all Visa, Mastercard, American Express and RuPay networks with ‘tap and pay’, which uses near field communication (NFC) technology to accept card payments.

The device announces all payments from cards as well as QR codes and the merchants can also switch off card payments if they wish to do so.

However, it does not accept swipe payments which means it cannot accept payments higher than Rs 5,000 with a single tap as regulation does not approve of tap and pay for a transaction value higher than Rs 5,000 for a single transaction.

Paytm had recently launched a small mobile “Pocket Soundbox” and “Music Soundbox”, which plays songs on the soundbox devices.

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The company said that with Card Soundbox, the company solves two problems for merchants — accepting card payments along with getting instant audio alerts for all payments. This also lets merchants opt for a single device rather than renting multiple point of sale(PoS) devices.

The device combines Soundbox with NFC or contactless debit and credit card payments with mobile payments. The device also provides both audio and visual payment confirmation through a LCD display to the merchant and the customer.

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The made in India device  uses 4G network connectivity providing fastest payments alerts and has a battery life of five days. The device offers alerts in 11 languages that can be changed by the merchant through Paytm for Business app.

“We have found that  merchants and consumers need card acceptance as simply as mobile payments with Paytm QR Code. The launch of Card Soundbox will go a long way in merging the two requirements of merchants - mobile payments and card payments,” said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of Paytm.