State-run insurance firm, Life Insurance Corporation has appointed Paytm, digital payments major, to facilitate its digital payments. What this means is that LIC policy holders can now pay their premium using Paytm.
Sources told Times of India, LIC had tied up with another payment gateway earlier but has now signed a new deal with Paytm as most of its payments have moved to digital modes. The news report said 17 payment platforms had aggressively bid, but Paytm bagged the contract due to its ability to straddle multiple payment services.
LIC saw a sharp jump in digital payments during the COVID epidemic. During this period, LIC collected a premium of Rs 60,000 crore through digital mode. This does not include payments made from the bank. These are about 8 crore transactions, which is expected to grow further.
As per the new agreement, the payment process needs to be smoother including a broader range of payment options and the inclusion of more players — banks, wallets, etc — in payment channels.
