Paytm replaces iOS mobile wallet app after technical issues
Indian mobile finance company Paytm earlier this week pulled the iOS version of its mobile wallet app for iPhone and iPad users after it didn't allow certain customers to pay, became unresponsive and denied access to their accounts once logged out. Without explaining what caused the issue, Paytm has launched a new version on the App Store and will send notifications to users to update the app before making transactions. The company was most successful at attracting users after the Indian government demonetised INR500 and INR1,000 notes in November.
At a time when mobile wallet apps are gaining quick adoption because of the government’s demonetisation move, Paytm has been one of the biggest gainers. While it may be argued that the government indirectly endorsed it at different points of time over the past few weeks, there is no denying that it provides a genuine alternative, in most cases, to using cash or credit cards.

But for a service that currently has around 150 million users, the disappearance of the iOS version of the app meant for the Apple iPhone and Apple iPad on Wednesday wasn’t good news.

Several issues were detected on the Paytm app for iPhones and iPads. One of the issues was that certain users were not able to pay and the app would stop responding. Post this, the system would log them out, and would not let them sign back in again.

Now, the Paytm app is back on the App Store, with the new version (5.8.2) showing up with the release notes suggesting “Critical bug fix, please update your app immediately". No detailed explanation has been given about the issue itself, or what caused it.

While the new app can be downloaded from the App Store, Paytm will also be pushing out notifications to users to update the app before making any transactions.

Also read: How to secure your digital transactions

Post demonetisation, which removed Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes as legal tenders, millions of Indians were left searching for alternatives to make urgent payments. That is when mobile wallets gained traction, including the likes of Freecharge and Mobikwik, but Paytm was the biggest gainer—it witnessed over seven million transactions worth Rs120 crore on the first weekend post demonetisation.