Paytm Money takes LIC IPO to retail stores

Mumbai: Paytm Money, the super app of wealth management, has taken LIC IPO which will hit the market on May 4, to retail stores by placing QR codes for free demat accounts to make investment accessible to the common man.

One97 Communications Limited that owns the brand Paytm, India's leading digital payments and financial services company, on Monday announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Paytm Money is set to take LIC IPO to retail stores.

The company has placed QR codes at kirana stores across the country, to introduce the common man to the power of investing with free demat accounts for lifetime. Using these QR codes, any individual will be able to easily create their free demat accounts – mandatory for stock market trading – and place their bids for the LIC IPO.

LIC IPO is the biggest market debut in India and given that the brand is ubiquitous in the country, the QR codes are being put up at Paytm partnered merchant outlets to ensure interested investors can easily apply for the IPO. This initiative will contribute to the growth of retail participation in the capital markets as people get free demat accounts.

Talking to Bizz Buzz, Varun Sridhar, CEO, Paytm Money, said, "We have already started pilot for the project and found that retail investor participation growing in the capital markets over the last few years and this is set to see a further boost with the LIC IPO. Given that many new eager investors will want to start their wealth management journey now, we are placing our QR codes at Paytm merchant partners' stores across the country that will give them free demat accounts. This reflects Paytm Money's constant commitment to empowering thousands of small investors by helping them start off their IPO journey in a smooth and seamless manner."

Paytm Money has become the first discount broker in the country to allow high net worth individuals (HNIs) to place higher bids of up to Rs5,00,000 through UPI, without having to go through Bank ASBA flows. Furthermore, it has created a separate category for policyholders who are eligible to apply for the LIC IPO, in addition to the retail investor category.

Paytm Money has also enabled pre-open IPO applications that will help investors apply even before it opens for subscription. Such applications will be recorded in Paytm Money's system and will be sent to exchanges as soon as the IPO goes live. In addition to IPOs, Paytm Money adds up as a holistic wealth management and trading platform which individuals can use for investing in stocks, F&O, Open API trading, ETFs, Direct Mutual Funds, NPS Wealth Community, Portfolio Management Services and a Wealth Academy. The platform services retail investors and advanced traders across India and processes over 100 million transactions in a year.

The platform has achieved a rapid growth rate organically with over 8.5 lakh trading accounts along with 9 million registered direct Mutual Fund investors. Over 75 per cent of users on the platform are below the age of 35. Paytm Money has a total AUM of Rs 11,000 crore, with an average daily turnover of over Rs 70,000 crore. In the last one year, the platform has processed over 16.2 million mutual funds transactions and over 31 million equity orders. The platform is also among India's Top 3 digital distributors of NPS on fintech apps with over one lakh registered users. The Paytm Wealth Community has over 1.3 lakh unique users, has hosted 390 Live Events which have made way for 3,000 Hours of content viewed. In the last year, most popular IPOs on the platform were Zomato, Glenmark Lifesciences, Paytm while the top stocks held by the users were Tata Motors, Tata Power, ITC.

Steps to apply for LIC IPO through Paytm Money

1. Go to the IPO section on Paytm Money's home screen

2. Select the investor type as per preference. Individuals who are looking to place bids up to Rs 5 lakh can do so by opting for the HNI category. Allotment in HNI investor type will be done proportionately on the basis of subscription numbers in this category for IPO

3. If you are a policyholder, on the IPO details page, under the 'Investor Type' select Policyholders. Additionally, your PAN should be linked to LIC policy and this PAN should be the same as the one linked to Paytm Money's demat account. If you meet these criteria, you can choose the policyholder option

4. The LIC IPO option will be available in the 'Current & Upcoming' tab within IPOs

5. Once you click on the option you will see the 'Apply now' button which will take you to the bid page. On this page, you can update the price and quantity for your application

6. Then 'Add UPI Details' section, update your UPI ID and click on 'Apply'

7. Once the allotment happens, you would be notified about your allotment status