With the Indian millennial taking to online services fast, the trend for buying gold has also taken a turn. Apart from buying physical gold and gold-backed exchange traded funds, this Diwali many Indians went digital in their gold purchases as well.
Paytm, which offers the option to buy digital gold in association with MMTC PAMP, witnessed a 12X rise in purchases during Dhanteras. The platform, which was launched in April 2017, has achieved the landmark of over a million customers saving through Paytm Gold worth Rs 120 crore within six months of its launch.
“Gold is our bet as a wealth management solution. The scale of gold in India is unprecedented - the number of jewelry stores is three times the number of bank branches, while there are $900 billion in gold savings as compared to $250 billion within our formal banking system. Gold gives us an extraordinary opportunity to create a wealth solution that is trusted and used by consumers across every nook and corner of the country”, said Nitin Mira, senior vice-president, Paytm.
More than 60% of Paytm gold sales came from the smaller towns and cities in West Bengal, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Jharkhand. Customers also purchased gold for rates as low as Rs.500.
Gold bought via Paytm is stored in MMTC-PAMP’s secure and insured vaults. Customers have the option of getting the gold delivered home in the form of minted coins or they can sell it back to MMTC-PAMP for the current market value.