PayPoint India Launches “e-Gold for the Under-Served Rural Families”

* Individuals can start investing in 22 Carat e-Gold for as low as Rs. 500, without opening a Demat account  

* Tech-unsavvy customers can easily invest in e-Gold with guided assistance from retail or Kirana stores associated with PayPoint India 

While there are multiple ways to purchase gold, one that has become increasingly popular in urban India is e-Gold or Digital Gold. However, in the rural market, the demand for e-Gold remains sluggish due to low digital literacy and awareness.  

In light of these gaps, PayPoint has launched an “e-Gold facility” on its platform – a network of more than 48,000 last-mile physical stores - to make the investment process simpler and safer for rural families. The initiative is for tech-unsavvy customers to conveniently buy and sell e-gold with guided assistance from PayPoint store staff. Individuals can invest in 22-Carat gold for as low as Rs. 500.  

E-gold enables the purchase of non-physical or digital gold in small quantities, that too, without opening a Demat account. Hence, customers can avoid the downsides of buying physical gold – such as identifying physical gold's legitimacy & purity, high-ticket size, safekeeping, storage problems and others.  

On the other hand, once an individual buys e-Gold from nearby retail or Kirana stores associated with PayPoint, an equivalent amount of physical gold is purchased and stored in government-approved secured vaults on behalf of the customer. Additionally, Axis bank is the trustee of these vaults. These are the measures put in place to safeguard the interests of the customers. 

Commenting on the development, Ketan Doshi, Managing Director of PayPoint India, said, "The cost of owning physical gold in the form of bars, coins or jewelry is high, as gold is trading at around 5,100 per gram currently. Thus, we aim to take the concept of e-Gold to the last-mile with small denomination investment, thereby encourage lower-income households to opt for regular micro-savings. 

"In today's unprecedented times, when COVID-19 is ravaging the world, the need for security has come to the fore. With e-Gold SIPs, individuals can gradually build their assets even with limited income and achieve a degree of financial security in the challenging times", he added.  

During a pilot run with some retailers, PayPoint witnessed strong adoption from the customers opting for daily, weekly and monthly investments. Such a response has reinforced PayPoint's commitment to take financial products to the last mile.  

PayPoint facilitates transparent pricing by allocating or redeeming investments at real-time bullion rates.  With outstanding features of flexibility in buying, high liquidity, long-term horizon and safety, investment in e-Gold is indeed one of the best investment avenues for the customers at the bottom of the pyramid. 

About PayPoint India Network Pvt. Ltd. 

PayPoint is a technology-enabled Distribution network of Financial Services. The company's digitally connected network of 48000+ offline stores offers various Financial services like Banking (PMJDY accounts), micro ATM services, Wallets (Paypointz), Remittances, Bill payments, insurance, Merchant QR, and many more. Apart from Financial services, PayPoint also offers consumer services to the underserved like Travel booking, Recharges, Amazon assisted shopping, Gift Cards, etc. through its strong network of retail stores spread across the country. The company's retailer-driven assisted model helps customers make an informed decision for availing services from their trained partners and its digital platform.  

PayPoint offers a bouquet of services through its plug-and-play platform. More than 100 Services providers are plugged into the company's system and interact with them on a real-time basis catering to more than 4 million customers month on month. The primary objective is to bridge the financial inclusion gap between developed urban India and under-served rural India.