e-commerce
Paytm Marketplace files complaint against ‘fraudulent’ users
MUMBAI Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought down the surgical strike against black money in the form of demonetization in November 8, the Alibaba backed online wallet service PayTM found itself in news, and its usage growing by leaps and bounds.
It was further enhanced when the common rhetoric of demonetization shifted from ‘curbing black money’ to promoting a cash less economy in India, in line with the PM’s digital India dream.
In fact, within hours of the Prime Minister’s announcement, the company registered a 200 per cent hike in number of app downloads and 250 per cent surge in number of overall transactions and transaction value.
The number of Saved Cards also grew by 30 per cent, pointing at a strong set of repeat customers the platform has now acquired. The company has noted 1000 per cent growth in money added to the wallet and 400 per cent growth in transaction value of offline payments.
If that wasn’t enough, the service was in news after releasing an advertisement that belittled the sufferings of those affected by demonetization. It complied with the netizens with a revised advertisement that was later well received.
With usage on the platform reaching it all time high owing to the current slow influx of liquidity in the market, the company had arranged for a number of consumer friendly policies to make it easy for its users. The policies extended, not just for its online wallet and money transfer service but its digital market place as well.
According to an official statement from the ecommerce/ e wallet player, “Paytm has identified about 48 fraudulent users in the physical goods marketplace business, who were trying to game the company’s consumer friendly practices.”
“Paytm regularly monitors its marketplace business to identify any fraudulent or suspicious behaviour. This is a part of the company’s security practices to ensure that genuine users are able to continuously avail the benefits brought to it by Paytm marketplace,” a statement from the company reads.
Paytm marketplace has robust risk management practices and regularly reports users who try to game the company’s fair usage policies.”
Considering the current series of developments arround PayTM, whether it is through paid campaigns or organic, demonetisation has plummeted PayTM’s brand recall effortlessly.
e-commerce
Visa report tracks rise of India’s affluent, experience-led spending
Affluent base doubles to 130 lakh, travel 58 per cent of elite spends.
MUMBAI: In India’s new luxury playbook, it’s less about owning more and more about living better. A new whitepaper by Visa Consulting and Analytics (VCA) maps a decisive shift in India’s affluent economy, where spending is becoming more intentional, experience-led, and closely tied to personal identity rather than pure income growth.
Titled India’s Affluent Economy 2025–2026, the report draws on a Visa-commissioned Yougov study and VisaNet data across travel, dining, retail and lifestyle categories. The headline number is hard to miss: individuals earning over Rs 10 lakh annually have nearly doubled from 69 lakh to 130 lakh, significantly expanding the country’s discretionary spending base.
But it’s not just about scale, it’s about behaviour. As consumers move up the affluence ladder, discretionary categories are taking a larger share of credit card spends, positioning cards as key enablers of premium, lifestyle-driven consumption.
The geography of wealth is shifting too. Affluence is no longer confined to metros such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, with cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Jaipur and Lucknow increasingly mirroring metro consumption patterns.
The report highlights a clear pivot from ownership to access. More than 50 per cent of affluent consumers now use cards for elite memberships, while 7 in 10 are drawn to limited-edition drops and curated collections. Increasingly, luxury is defined by seamless access be it concierge-led travel or curated dining where time saved is as valuable as money spent.
Spending patterns reinforce this shift. Among the ultra-elite, travel accounts for 58 per cent of discretionary spends, far outpacing retail and luxury combined at 28 per cent. Cross-border spending penetration stands at 63 per cent, signalling a growing global outlook among India’s affluent.
Closer home, indulgence is becoming routine. Nearly 4 in 5 affluent consumers dine at premium establishments at least three times a year, while 1 in 4 visit luxury venues more than five times annually. Dining spends are also climbing, with Rs 20,000 emerging as a new entry-level benchmark per experience and Rs 50,000 marking premium territory.
Retail, meanwhile, is becoming more selective. Three in four affluent consumers make a high-end purchase at least once a quarter, while one in four shops premium every two weeks. Luxury retail intensity is also rising, with 2 in 5 consumers spending over Rs 5 lakh annually, and a smaller but significant segment exceeding Rs 10 lakh.
Technology and wellness are carving out new roles in this ecosystem. High-end gadgets now see average spends of Rs 60,000 or more per purchase, while ultra-elite consumers are eight times more likely to visit spas and show five times higher engagement with cosmetic stores than non-affluent groups.
The broader takeaway is structural. Affluent consumers are no longer buying products, they are buying ecosystems. Integrated experiences across travel, dining, wellness and payments are becoming central to how this segment lives and spends.
As India’s affluent base expands beyond metros and aligns more closely with global consumption patterns, the real opportunity lies not just in size, but in speed. For brands, the message is clear: relevance will be defined by how early and how seamlessly, they plug into this evolving lifestyle economy.
